2009 TASA Fashion Show
A touch of student flair
A touch of student flair
By Jonathan Gramling
While it may not be the garment district of New York, the UW School of Human Ecology
does turn out some creative and stylish fashion designers. Tessia Brown and Dokiang Thao are
second and fourth year students, respectively, in the program who will one day study at the
Fashion Institute of Technology in New York as a part of their degree requirement. And in their
own ways, they are preparing to leave their mark on the fashion world.
After graduation, Thao hopes to catch onto a job somewhere in the fashion industry.
“Eventually, I would like to have my own line collection and be an independent designer,” Thao
said during an interview in a design classroom at the school. “But I want to get my feet wet first.
As an independent designer, I would have my own collection where I would sell independently
or possibly, if a store wanted it, they could buy it.”
Brown, the daughter of a tailor in Madison, has a dream of making it in the performing arts.
Lat year, she won the Campus Idol competition. But she wouldn’t leave the world of fashion
design behind. “I would like to be a starlet and design my own things and be an independent
designer as well,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t mind being a huge fashion designer. But as long as I
am working around and working with the things that I love, I’ll be fine in making a decent living.”
As with everything else in the fashion world, statements aren’t made overtly, but rather are
imbued in the color, texture and shape of the fabric. “The mass produced shirts you see in a
Dokiang Thao (l) and Tessia Brown frame one of Brown’s
designs. They will be exhibiting some of their design
creations at the TASA Fashion Show May 9 at Monona
Terrace.
designs. They will be exhibiting some of their design
creations at the TASA Fashion Show May 9 at Monona
Terrace.
store, they aren’t trying to make a statement,” Brown said. “They’re just possibly complementing other things that you could incorporate within your wardrobe to
make fashion or make a statement with yourself with what you wear and what you put on your body.”
“Sometimes people design things based on how they are feeling and what is going on in the world,” Thao added. “I know some people who don’t feel very
good about some situation and so they design something with that kind of mood and tone.”
According to Brown, the creative process depends upon what the assignment is and what she has to work with. “Sometimes you’ll be inspired by a cool
fabric and the fabric will talk to you or something,” Brown reflected. “When you start draping it, it will kind of tell you what it wants to do. Or you will start with a
design and draw it out and go back to your fabrics and it kind of talks to you and see if it can do that and what it would look best as. But I think for the most part,
you see something and you are inspired by it and then you get there. It’s in your mind and then you try to get it out there for other people to see.”
When asked what style of clothing she enjoys designing, Thao said it is dependent on the fabric. “Personally, I’m drawn to garments and looks that are girly,
splashy and funky,” Thao said. “Depending on the projects that we have to do, I have to design something around that. I really like prints, but then I realized that
a lot of my designs involved solid color fabrics. It really varies according to what I am making and what the project is too.”
Brown’s designs are made to make people notice. “I like to make a lot of dresses and things that are flashy,” Brown emphasized. “They aren’t necessarily
risqué, but they are daring and pretty also.”
On May 9, the public will have a chance to see the creations of Thao, Brown and their classmates as the UW Textile and Apparel Student Association
(TASA) presents its annual fashion show at Monona Terrace. “This year, we got a generous grant from Kohls,” Thao said. “Every year, we’ve done a fashion show,
but this year, it’s going to be bigger and better. It’s going to have a huge gallery space that has pieces whether it is garments or illustrations or textile pieces that
people would want to see up close and personal and see the details. Along with that, we have our traditional runway show. We did a model call about a month
ago. We have 23 models. Each model has 2-3 fashions that they will be wearing down the runway.”
Seventh Avenue, here we come.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Textile and Apparel Student Association Student Fashion Show (TASA) will showcase this year’s student designs
at a 2 p.m. ($10) and 7 p.m. ($25) shows. Select student garment collections are to be modeled on the runway alongside pieces from guest Kohl’s designer Vera
Wang’s collection Simply Vera. For more information, visit www.sohe.wisc.edu/centers/cre/fshow.html
make fashion or make a statement with yourself with what you wear and what you put on your body.”
“Sometimes people design things based on how they are feeling and what is going on in the world,” Thao added. “I know some people who don’t feel very
good about some situation and so they design something with that kind of mood and tone.”
According to Brown, the creative process depends upon what the assignment is and what she has to work with. “Sometimes you’ll be inspired by a cool
fabric and the fabric will talk to you or something,” Brown reflected. “When you start draping it, it will kind of tell you what it wants to do. Or you will start with a
design and draw it out and go back to your fabrics and it kind of talks to you and see if it can do that and what it would look best as. But I think for the most part,
you see something and you are inspired by it and then you get there. It’s in your mind and then you try to get it out there for other people to see.”
When asked what style of clothing she enjoys designing, Thao said it is dependent on the fabric. “Personally, I’m drawn to garments and looks that are girly,
splashy and funky,” Thao said. “Depending on the projects that we have to do, I have to design something around that. I really like prints, but then I realized that
a lot of my designs involved solid color fabrics. It really varies according to what I am making and what the project is too.”
Brown’s designs are made to make people notice. “I like to make a lot of dresses and things that are flashy,” Brown emphasized. “They aren’t necessarily
risqué, but they are daring and pretty also.”
On May 9, the public will have a chance to see the creations of Thao, Brown and their classmates as the UW Textile and Apparel Student Association
(TASA) presents its annual fashion show at Monona Terrace. “This year, we got a generous grant from Kohls,” Thao said. “Every year, we’ve done a fashion show,
but this year, it’s going to be bigger and better. It’s going to have a huge gallery space that has pieces whether it is garments or illustrations or textile pieces that
people would want to see up close and personal and see the details. Along with that, we have our traditional runway show. We did a model call about a month
ago. We have 23 models. Each model has 2-3 fashions that they will be wearing down the runway.”
Seventh Avenue, here we come.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Textile and Apparel Student Association Student Fashion Show (TASA) will showcase this year’s student designs
at a 2 p.m. ($10) and 7 p.m. ($25) shows. Select student garment collections are to be modeled on the runway alongside pieces from guest Kohl’s designer Vera
Wang’s collection Simply Vera. For more information, visit www.sohe.wisc.edu/centers/cre/fshow.html