FS:X, Column II
By Allie Davey
It is a typical rainy, grey St Andrews day that FS:X have scheduled for their student designers shoot at the Golf Hotel. I have arranged to meet second-year student and designer Valerie Klasan here to grill her on her collection of ‘Ivory Dresses’ that will appear alongside various well-known labels that include Nicole Fahri, Tommy Hilfiger, Issa, Jack Wills, up-and-comer David Saunders’ label David David and Elle MacPherson Intimates, as well as the work of her fellow student designers.
As I get closer to the hub of today’s action, it becomes clear that there is definitely FS in the air: models made up in exotic eyeshadow and huge hair circle the area. I wait in the reception area outside Number 40, which today, unsurprisingly, is full, and absorb the buzz of activity. Klasan eventually emerges bearing armfuls of fabric and, most intriguingly, what appears to be a balloon-filled bag. ‘One of the models had a shoot with Country Life today, and they wanted to shoot her in something fun, so they used my clothes!’ she enthuses. The balloons, it transpires, are actually part of a balloon-filled tulle skirt that makes up a dress, one of the looks from her 5-piece collection. ‘It isn’t wearable,’ she says, in reference to the eye-catching piece, ‘But I tried to make all of my pieces sort of different.’
Klasan’s collection could certainly be described as ‘different’: alongside the balloon-dress is an ‘updated’ period gown fashioned from knit-fabric that also appears in Issue 2 of the FS Magazine, and a ‘wrap-around, jodhpur-pants’ type garment which she later decides is best described as a skort (half shorts, half skirt) that she’s paired with a ‘loose, floaty top.’ The collection’s cohesiveness lies in its lack of colour: every outfit is white. ‘I wanted to move away from “colour, colour, colour”. I just wanted to keep it simple, and the simplest thing I could make it was uniform colour.’ But whilst white might sound like the perfect solution when seeking simplicity, Klasan is quick to note that she didn’t get off lightly, so to speak. ‘It’s not an easy colour to work with. It’s very showy. You stain it so easily, and it’s all see-through,’ she explains - not so practical under the glare of the catwalk lights. She was also anxious to avoid her collection looking too clinical. ‘You know you get those magazine spreads in summer where the idea is ‘white chic’? It always glares at you. I wanted something much softer.’ So, like something out of a fashion fairytale, she took her dreamy vision to a fabric store set in the countryside just outside of her hometown of Vienna and selected a gorgeous array of fabrics in ‘warm whites and creams’ before setting to work sewing her designs to life. With no formal dressmaking skills at hand, the task was not a small one. However, for Klasan, it was all about exercising her creativity: ‘I really reject the idea that being a student designer means you have to show the world how you make a top. Anyone who can sew can make that. It’s tailoring, it’s not really designing.’
Despite her lack of formal design education, FS:X is not Valerie’s nor the other student designers’ first foray into fashion. Despite studying Maths and Economics - not exactly the subject choices you’d expect from a designer and sub-editor of Style for The Tribe- she’s designed for and helped organize three major fashion shows at her school back home in Austria. Along with a friend, she was ‘in charge of designers, in charge of models, and we made the clothes.’ The events were hugely successful. So what took her until second year to get involved with the St Andrews fashion scene? ‘I guess I was kind of intimidated,’ she explains.
Fellow designer Casey McElroy, 22, in her final year studying Modern History, claimed that despite a childhood love for art and design, it was only ‘in the last few years that I decided to start channelling my ideas and designing seriously.’ However, in those last few years, she’s managed to accumulate impressive credentials that include a collection for the 2008 RAG week fashion show ‘made primarily of recycled materials’ and co-designing ‘a beautiful collection of gowns and dresses with my good friend Nancy Loutkota’ that appeared on last year’s FS:09 runway.
So it begs the question - what does McElroy have in store for this year’s show? ‘My inspiration for this collection was drawn from men of the sea: pirates and sailors. If the outfits were to tell a story it would go something like this: Preppy ladies of leisure are out yachting and get mixed up with maritime pirates.’ The result, in her own words, is ‘terribly chic!’ Her vision, she explains, was to combine ‘edginess and elegance to create a bold fashion statement’, balancing masculine and feminine flourishes to produce what she describes as ‘a look that is simple yet dramatic’. Sounds like a stylish seafarer’s dream.
Dreaming definitely seems to be a strong theme amongst all of the FS student designers: their clothes are an ensemble of exquisite, ethereal and fantastical fashion imaginings come to life; daydreams of pirates, preps, balloons and ballerinas conjured into a dress-up reality. McElroy confirms that ‘At times, when I am overwhelmed by my course work, creating and imagining clothing designs is my personal escape.’ It’s not surprising, then, that both girls I interviewed cited Project Runway, the TV show responsible for making designers’ dreams come true, as being partially responsible for them submitting sketches to FS:X in the first place. McElroy elucidates, ‘I am a huge fan of the show Project Runway. When the new season aired this past summer I was instantly inspired to re-apply to design for FS.’ Klasan effusively agrees, ‘Last year I watched Project Runway all the time. It’s just drama, drama, drama. My cousin lent me her mannequin for FS, and I was in my basement sewing and I felt like I was on Project Runway!’
So is their appearance on the FS:X runway part of a bigger leap onto a career path leading down fashion’s lane? McElroy claims she has ‘no serious plans’ as of yet, but ensures us that fashion is ‘definitely something I would like to consider in the future.’ Likewise, Klasan explains, ‘I’d like to go into fashion, but it’s more of a dream.’ She admits that ‘at one time I thought I’d like to be a magazine editor,’ but professes that since she’s quit reading magazines, that plan has hit a snag. ‘It was too addictive. I scrupulously read every word. It was horrible.’ It’s probably all the better that both girls reckon it’s a little too far off to really tell where they’ll end up: for now, the relative pressure of FS is quite enough. With so many fashion junkies clamouring to set eyes on their full collections, they’ve got their eyes set firmly on the imminent future. McElroy explains, ‘the FS design process can be somewhat daunting, but it is definitely worth the work to see my designs come to life on the runway.’ We can’t wait.
Tune in next issue for our FS:X show review. Want your say? Email fashion@thetribeonline.com.