Pamella Roland DeVos - WKTV Journal

Kendall College students look over pieces in the Grand Rapids Public Museum clothing collection.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum is partnering with Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University’s Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion to open a new fashion exhibit, “Inspired Style,” on Aug. 6. This new exhibit is a collaborative fashion project, where students used the Museum’s fashion collection for inspiration to create new, modern interpretations of the historic pieces.

Kendall College students work on their designs inspired by the items in the Grand Rapids Public Museum's clothing collection. — Kendall College students work on their designs inspired by the items in the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s clothing collection.

Nine students each chose a garment from the Museum’s collections from different decades spanning the 1850s to 1950s. Their new pieces incorporate elements of the historic garments into their own original work, resulting in a modern artistic interpretation.

Visitors will be able to examine the various details of both the students’ pieces and the historic garments they drew inspiration from.

This exhibit will open in the GRPM’s Circle Theater, located on the Museum’s third floor, on Saturday, Aug. 6 and run through Jan. 8, 2017. Admission to this exhibit will be included with general admission to the Museum.

The GRPM’s extensive clothing collection offers a significant and multi-faceted view of the social, cultural and fashion history of the Midwestern United States. Since the GRPM began collecting in 1854, it has amassed a comprehensive collection of more than 10,000 clothing items, with strengths in fashionable garments from the 19th and 20th centuries. It is especially strong in the areas of women’s clothing, wedding attire, uniforms, items with local provenance and unique special function items, such as women’s athletic wear. Currently, most of these collection items are stored in the GRPM’s climate-controlled archives.

Working with KCAD’s Fashion Studies students is one way the GRPM is making its extensive Collections an open and accessible community resource. Students have learned through these artifacts by studying not just the garments but the social environment and circumstances during which the original garments were created.

“By opening up this amazing connection to our history, the Public Museum allowed our students to explore fashion from a social perspective in addition to the technical and creative aspects of garment design,” said Assistant Professor and KCAD Fashion Studies Program Chair Lori Faulkner. “It was an immersive experience which will guide our students to be intentional in their design process, informing and enhancing their work.”

“It is exciting to partner with the KCAD’s Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion students to be able to use our Collections in a new and exciting way,” said Andrea Melvin, collections curator at the GRPM. “Our fashion Collection is one of the most expansive collections we have, and we are always looking for fun ways to share more of what we have with the community; this exhibit is doing just that.”

The Grand Rapids Public Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, with its main location at 272 Pearl Street, NW. For additional information including hours of operation, admission fees and exhibit/event listings, please visit www.grpm.org.

By KCAD

The most imaginative and captivating work from students in Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University’s (KCAD) Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion will be presented to the public at their annual fashion show, to be held inside the Grand Rapids Downtown Market on April 13 from 7:30-10 pm.

“It’s fitting that all of the hard work and dedication the students in our Fashion Studies program have displayed throughout the year culminates in an event that they have the freedom to make their own,” said Interim Dean of the College Ron Riksen. “The KCAD community looks forward to celebrating their accomplishments.”

Titled UN.EARTH, the event will feature work from all class levels of the Fashion Studies program that ties into the event’s theme of nature and personal growth. The theme is based on the earth’s terrain and includes three subcategories: peak, valley, and coast. Specific color schemes and key words associated with each subcategory informed class projects in Fashion Studies courses throughout the spring semester of the 2015-2016 academic year.

Underclassmen will be displaying individual garments, selected through a juried process, that were designed within the parameters of different class projects. Graduating seniors, on the other hand, will be displaying their full capstone collections, multiple garments that have been designed with much more creative freedom at the students’ disposal. A number of fashion illustrations will also be on display.

“We chose to call the fashion show UN•EARTH specifically for its definition and connotation,” said Fashion Studies senior Audrey Langejans, one of the event’s lead organizers. “The word ‘earth’ got us thinking a lot about incorporating the nature-inspired trends that are so relevant in the fashion industry right now – trends that would give the underclassmen a chance to be extra creative in their interpretation of the theme. The definition of the word ‘unearth’ itself felt like the perfect summation of the senior experience. We seniors have spent three years working on class projects and learning different techniques, and now we have been able to unearth our own aesthetics and identities as designers through our capstone collections.”

Fashion Studies Program Chair Lori Faulkner added, “In our Capstone course, senior students use all the technical skills and knowledge they have gained through their years of study at KCAD to create an individual collection that specifically reveals their individual vision. Up until their senior year, they have been designing with certain guidelines in mind, but for this project they are given complete creative freedom. Regardless of their class level, I am consistently amazed by the unique designs that my students are able to take from concept to finished product.”

UN.EARTH will be held at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market on April 13, 2016 from 7:30-10 pm. Appetizers and refreshments will be provided by Martha’s Vineyard. Admission to the event is free, and the public is warmly welcomed to attend. Attendees are asked to please RSVP through Eventbrite to reserve their free tickets. Space is limited.