CCC Fashion Studies Department

Congrats to our CCC L’Oreal Brandstorm team that won 2nd place in the international semi-finals in London. We are so proud of you!! 👏👏

L to R
Angie Belloso, So., Graphic Design
Brianna Jennes, Sr., Graphic Design
Breyona Smith, Sr., Fashion Studies

has begun! Join for their event series!

Friday April 19th, participate in the Trash to Fashion Design Design Challenge for a chance to win a prize worth $75 (prize item yet to be announced). Winner will be selected after a 24 hour live vote here on our Instagram account.

Don’t miss the finale event on Wednesday, April 24th: A Sustainable Fashion Panel with local fashion changemakers. Reminder that this event has 50 seats available to the public! Reserve your spot with the link in their bio. Columbia students can register for the panel on engage.

Four-peat L’Oréal Brandstorm Win for CCC! Angie Belloso, Sophomore Graphic Design, Breyona Smith, Senior Fashion Studies, Brianna Jennes, Senior Graphic Design took home the top prize in competition.

Four CCC teams took part in a 1-credit Fashion Studies course meeting the first five weeks of the semester. Dana Connell, Associate Professor and Reyes Witt, Assistant Professor of Instruction taught the class. Teams were flown to New York City to present their ideas live at L’Oréal Redken Headquarters.

The team will be mentored over the next several weeks by L’Oréal experts to prepare for the final pitch. In early June they will receive an all-expense paid trip to compete internationally in London! All global winning teams will visit the L’Oréal HQ in London to pitch their ideas to an executive jury and audience. Good luck team! 👏✨👏

Tickets are still available for BODY/MATTER! This exhibit brings together eleven wearable artworks that consider the body as an object and subject of medical inquiry. Drawing upon research conducted in the archives of the International Museum of Surgical Science, the designers explore concepts of bodily normalcy, fashion as prosthetic, and surgical voyeurism, among others. ‘MATTER’ is thus conceived of in two ways: as cloth and as flesh. While cloth is the ‘matter’ of fashion design, flesh is the ‘matter’ of surgical science. Together, cloth and flesh function as the fragile barrier between the self and society; however, these works ask us to contemplate where one ends and the other begins. View our story for the ticket link.

Student Designers:
Rae Breazeale
Olivia Byam
Sarah Donnelly
William Duwe
Bryannah Minor
Jada Moore
Amelia Nelson
Joelle Olabode
Darrius Parker
Michael Smith
Yasmeen Wilson

Faculty Mentors:
Julie Fehler
Lauren Downing Peters

Curator:
Lauren Downing Peters

Co-Organizers:
Columbia College Chicago
International Museum of Surgical Science

Sponsors:
Driehaus Design Initiative

The Fashion Lab Practicum team is looking for industry professionals (merchandisers, product developers, pattern graders, manufacturers, marketing specialists) to participate in anonymous interviews regarding the extended-size market.
If you are interested in participating in these interviews, please email [email protected], providing your company, position, and availability between March 5-29, 2024.

National Retail Federation Student Association of Columbia College Chicago students from FASH 380 and ADVE 350 doing store checks in Chicago for the NRF Foundation Student Challenge. DICK'S Sporting Goods Public Lands.

As we get ready for fall semester, we are excited to welcome new Styling faculty member, Rachel J. Penca, to Fashion Studies!

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IT’S OFFICIAL!!! You are looking at the newest Fashion Styling Instructor at Columbia College Chicago starting this Fall! How ever did I get this lucky?!
has received numerous accolades and is listed in the Top 50 Global Fashion Schools, so to say I’m proud to be a part of it is an understatement. This role is yet another beautiful surprise and blessing of 2022 that I’m ready to embrace.

✨When an opportunity comes to you and it feels right in your soul, you seize the moment and welcome it with open arms. I am beyond honored and humbled to use my expertise in this industry to make an impact on the lives of these studies students and influence their new styling minor program. It’s about time that Fashion Styling receives the recognition and attention it deserves at the collegiate level.

It’s all happening so quickly, and I have a lot to do in the next few weeks before classes begin, but know that Rachel J Styling will still be taking care of business and clients as usual. Nothing changes there, and I will still be working with Pivot School. Stay tuned for an incredible September conference with heavy hitters in the styling world! For me, there is nothing better than making a difference through my work in as many ways as I can possibly take on.

A heartfelt thank you to who opened this door and mentioned me in the right room at the right time. Your continued support and belief in me means so much! To my constant cheerleader and fellow creative for capturing these pics in front of the historic building I’ll be teaching in. Forever grateful. And of course my hubs, for now I am “Professor Penca.” 😉♥️

The O’Hare Fashion Packed Challenge 1 credit workshop has been changed from Thursday afternoon to Thursday morning! Students are still able to register for: FASH 284A Workshop in Fashion Studio. The workshop only has 12 seats so sign-up ASAP! Check our bio for a link to the past three challenge videos.

What’s in it for you? ONE dress form per student, students get to keep their inspiration accessory item. The winner will receive travel vouchers valued at $1K, and the winner and runner-up will receive a Mood $100@ gift card. The winner's garment will be purchased by O’Hare/Unison for permanent display at the airport. You don’t want to miss out!

Coming Fall Semester 2022!
Register for BUSE 205 Law for Creatives: Fashion

Legal issues are part of every creative business and fashion has its own specific considerations. Learn how the metaverse is impacting intellectual
property and licensing laws, pending sustainability laws could affect every area of the fashion industry, and the basics of business entities, contracts, labor
laws, and more.

The Retail Innovation Conference & Expo registration is officially open! The conference & expo will take place May 10th-12th, 2022 at the McCormick Place, Chicago. Check out The Thread for more information and the link to register!

The Retail Innovation Conference & Expo registration is officially open! The conference & expo will take place May 10th-12th, 2022 at the McCormick Place, Chicago. Check out The Thread for more information and the link to register!

Meet Matthew!
They/them
Matthew Rillie, Coordinator of Student Support and Engagement from the Student Diversity and Inclusion department will be partnering with us for our upcoming clothing swap. They help to manage the rack, one of Columbia College Chicago’s invaluable resources. The Rack has been such a special resource to grow here at Columbia. Having access to affirming clothing can be so important in exploring and representing your own gender expression. Naming that, this can be a large financial burden to many. There are also safety concerns when shopping at a store that fixates on having binary labels to all of their clothing. Being able to express yourself authentically is essential to your own liberation. And once you do that, you're able to more easily focus on your self-care, as well as the liberation of other people in ways that you can't do if you're caught in this cycle of trying to fit into oppressive ideas that you should not have the tools to affirm your identities.

Swapping clothing can be a powerful way to support your community. It names the barriers to accessing what we need and responds to that by addressing these needs directly by their own communities. I really appreciate the way students start thinking about what other needs they have, or their peers have after they start engaging with the Rack through a clothing swap or by stopping by Student Diversity and Inclusion. It’s a really radical act that challenges barriers and celebrates claiming what they need.

Meet Alithea!
They/them
Alithea Tashey, ’19 graduated from Columbia in 2019 with a degree in ASL-English Interpreting. They will be leading a workshop on April 20th on visible mending. Learn how to extend the life of your clothes and express your style with needle and thread. Free introductory visible mending class, RSVP required, link in BIO. Limited seating. RSVP today!

We are hosting a Visible Mending Workshop taught by Columbia College Chicago Graduate Alithea Tashey. Join us on April 20th to celebrate Fashion Revolution Week!RSVP on the Engage APP or use the link found in The Thread.

It’s time for a Fashion Revolution Week Clothing Swap! Join us on April 21st and make sure to RSVP on the Engage APP or by using the link found in The Thread.

Join Dr. Lauren Peters for the inaugural Fashion Revolution Week Book Club on April 19th! RSVP on the Engage APP or use the link found in The Thread.

We are hosting a kickoff tote design event for Fashion Revolution Week on April 13th! RSVP on the Engage APP or use the link found in The Thread.

Fashion Extracurricular Event Alert!!

Thursday, April 7th at 3:30 PM on zoom, Catriona Tassell will speak on sustainability practices and share her research-based tips on how the fashion industry and its consumer can be more sustainable. Check out The Thread for more information and the link to register!

The Virtual AIBI Study Hall is tomorrow from 3-5 PM. This is our Student and Emerging Professionals peer group, co-hosted by Melissa Gamble and Melissa Carr, which meets every three months. The meet-up tomorrow is themed around prepping for internships and job applications. Use the link below to sign-up!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/april-aibi-study-hall-virtual-event-tickets-298768252887

Fashion Studies senator, Tiffany Barney, wants your feedback! Visit the link in our bio to take the survey.

Berlin Street Style Summer Study Abroad application is now open! Application deadline is March 31st. Email [email protected] for any additional questions.

Apply here:
https://students.colum.edu/global-education/faculty-led-programs/

Mark your calendars for this extracurricular Fashion Studies event! A town hall meeting with Professor Dana Connell is coming up on Tuesday, March 22nd, at 12:00 pm in the 624 S. Michigan building. Hear all about the external scholarship applications that are open NOW from our Columbia finalists winning trips to New York and scholarship awards between $2,500 and $25,000.

This year the Fashion Studies department will participate in Fashion Revolution Week, April 18th-24th! Fashion Revolution was founded in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013. Since then, Fashion Revolution has grown to become the world’s largest fashion activism movement, mobilizing citizens, brands and policymakers through research, education, and advocacy. Plan to join us for various events taking place around campus. Be sure to follow us on IG and join fashion studies on the columengage APP!

External Scholarship Applications start NOW! Hear from Columbia students who are winning trips to New York and scholarship awards between $2,500 and $25,000! Launch your career as a national awards scholar and get noticed.

More beautiful work from our natural dye student’s midterm projects and sample binders!

DM for student mention

Classroom spotlight with Professor Amy Taylor currently teaching FASH 399B-01 Special Topic in Fashion Studio: Dyeing: The Natural Color Spectrum.

Our natural dye students were asked to create a visual map using textiles and natural dyes. It could be a map to a geographical location, memory, family tree, or any other visual guide to a final location that is meaningful to them. All of the students incorporated at least one mordant dye (cutch, cochineal, or marigold), an iron salt modifier, natural indigo, and at least two shibori resist techniques - the rest was up to them!

DM for student mention

Thank you to Dr. Morgaine Gaye and everyone who attended the Food Futurology: A Beginners Guide presentation! We loved learning about Dr. Gaye’s predictions for the future and her connections between fashion and food.

The NRF Foundation is hosting an info session today at 4:00 p.m. CT about the Next Generation Scholarship competition. The session is open to all students and educators. Hear from CCC’s Fashion Studies student Robert Davison Long, a finalist in this year’s competition.

Link to register!
https://nrf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEodOmqrD8iEtO115I8juQ1LKvvAtFfKaFK

Professor Gamble recently published this essay in the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Regulatory Review. It explains The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, groundbreaking legislation proposed in New York. The Act is a first attempt to address some of the environmental and labor impacts of the fashion industry. Professor Gamble has been following developments in ESG legislation in the U.S. and Europe, and believes this is just the beginning. Read more about it by clicking the link in our bio to our campsite page!