My itinerary for this past weekend as far as viewing shows is concerned was very busy especially being a first time attendee, and I have to say when I saw that I would be covering the Academy of Art University, I was the least excited, because I immediately thought about the fact that they were students and I figured their designs would not be as good as the professionals. But boy was I wrong! This year AAU served up nine crème de la crème students and they did fabulous work. The fall 2012 collection showcased eight women’s wear collections and one men’s wear collection.
The first collection, by Wu Di, was inspired by angular silhouettes and geometric patterns, using cashmere knits and double-face wool. Xiang Zhang, who provided singular looks all shown over white shirting. The collection from Jeanette Au, inspired by the Ballet Russes and Léon Bakst paintings, she provided a vibrant, composition of mohair and metallic knits with elaborate 3-D patterns. Amy Bond’s collection was inspired by complex shapes and construction, but she was able to make the intricacy appear simplistic and clean. Deanna Pei-Ju Lo’s collection was a feminine menswear inspired collection, using soft; luxurious fabrics such as lambskin, silk organza, and cotton velvet add womanliness to the line, on the other hand Farida Khan was inspired by the idea of avant-garde splendor. Kate Y.K. Lee used rounded silhouettes, while on the other hand Jade Juanyu Liu was inspired by French collage artist Damien Blottierre. Lastly, but by far not least, my favorite collection from the Academy of Art University was by Donghyuk Dan Kim, the only menswear collection of the show, showed inspiration from military uniform. Using wool, cotton, and leather in shades of olive green and dark brown, Kim was able to create a vintage futuristic looks. My favorite piece was a olive green, dark brown blazer accented with lighter shades of brown, adorned with brown leather lapels as well as leather intertwined in the plaid design.
This show was very noteworthy, and kept the viewers on the edge of their seat. In a way I found that all nine of the collections went together cohesively with at least one other collection presented in the show. It also reconfirmed that the next generation of top designers will not disappoint.
