UH Fashion Show celebrates its 50th year with the theme of 'Roots' on May 1

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Dan Meisenzahl, (808) 348-4936
Media Spokesman, UH System
Von Kaanaana
Student Director of Fashion Show, Fashion Design and Merchandising
Posted: Apr 29, 2016

UH student designs from the 1960s and '70s.
UH student designs from the 1960s and '70s.

The 50th annual UH Fashion Show, “Roots,” will take place on Sunday, May 1, 2016, in Kennedy Theatre on the UH Mānoa campus.  The silent auction, including some of the fashion designs that will be showcased that night, begins at 4:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:30, and the show runs from 6:00 to 8:30, with a reception to follow.

The fashion show will feature the work of 10 students in the Fashion Design and Merchandising (FDM) program of UHM’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. For the first time, it will also include the designs of 11 alumni of the program who are now established in the field of fashion, including Joelle Perry.

American Idol finalist and KITV4 reporter Jordan Segundo will be the announcer.  Students from UHM’s Department of Theatre and Dance will give dance performances between designers.

The fashion show has run annually in its present form since 1966, giving student designers the opportunity to spotlight their creations before colleagues, alumni, family members and industry representatives. It also provides hands-on training in many other important aspects of fashion promotion and merchandising.  Guided by faculty mentors, FDM students are responsible for all aspects of the show, from publicity to staging, from collecting and disbursing revenues to model selection and styling.

The show’s theme reflects on what has come before — in the department and in the history of fashion — which provides the roots for the design possibilities of today. Featuring influences from the past, present and future, the show will include highlights from the last 50 years of fashion created by students in the FDM program at UH Mānoa in the form of a pop-up museum curated by current students.

The history of fashion at UH stretches back almost 100 years and is intermingled with the history of fashion in the state. The first classes in textiles instruction were offered in 1917, just 10 years after the college’s founding. After 1959, Hawai‘i became known as the resort clothing manufacturing capital of the world, creating demand for trained graduates to work in the industry and, by 1965, eleven courses were offered in the college’s Clothing Design curriculum.

In 1966, the same year that the fashion show began, the Hawaiʻi Fashion Guild instituted Aloha Friday, the custom of wearing aloha shirts on Friday. Today’s FDM graduates, such as Fighting Eel’s Lan Chung, are contributing to the statewide interest in revitalizing Hawai‘i’s role as a fashion producer.

Contact Kira Krog at kirakrog@hawaii.edu for tickets. They are $25 for regular admission and $45 for VIP, which includes a gift bag and premier seating.

For more information, visit: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu