Anna Carlson designs a shirt in advance of the VCUarts Fashion Show as Assistant Professor Rudy Lopez supervises. (Photo by Adam Dubrueler)
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts' annual juried fashion show will triple in size this year. The event is scheduled for May 10 at Main Street Station’s renovated train shed at 1500 E. Main St., a new venue that will accommodate 1,400 attendees and a 500-foot runway, making the 2018 show the largest to date.
Also new this year is the event's organizer, first-year professor Rudy Lopez, though he’s no stranger to the fashion industry. An assistant professor in the VCUarts Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising, Lopez is also a 2003 graduate of the same department. He is the co-founder of Esses, a New York-based handmade jewelry company, and he created a lifestyle and fashion consulting company for young adults named High Prospect in Alexandria. He has even been a store manager at Richmond’s contemporary fashion boutique, Need Supply Co.
Lopez is also no stranger to the annual VCUarts Fashion Show; he attended it as a student when it was still being held in the VCU Student Commons. He’s a DJ on the side, often providing entertainment for corporate events and other private functions, and he has even put those skills to use, assisting with the music supervision and coordination of past VCUarts fashion shows. Plus, Lopez previously served as a juror for the event, assisting in the selection process via which students’ fashions make it to the runway. All of this experience has helped him face the challenge of heading up VCUarts’ Fashion Show, this year themed “Momentum.”
Assistant Professor Rudy Lopez works with his students to prepare for the VCUarts Fashion Show during the Advanced Show Production class. (Photo by Adam Dubrueler)
“I’m loving not just the fashion show experience, but being a fashion professor,” Lopez says. “[My own experiences as a VCU student are] something I can use to connect with the students as well, because I know what they’re going through.”
Lopez says the annual fashion show is “a testament to VCUarts and their commitment to their students to trust them to produce such a high-profile event.” Tickets historically sell out fast, but Lopez says due to the event’s size this year there will be more seats for the general public, including local high school students, to attend.
The annual fashion show highlights the high-quality work of VCUarts’ fashion design students combined with the behind-the-scenes production skills of the fashion merchandising students. Designs from students at the VCUarts Qatar campus will also be featured on the runway. Expect to see student designs including knitwear, denim, dresses and menswear.
The show’s theme, “Momentum,” is a play on of the trains passing through Main Street Station as well as the students’ work to move fashion forward.
With VCUarts ranking among the top art and design schools in the United States, the fashion show attracts attendees from around the world. Many graduates of the fashion program remain in the industry, becoming entrepreneurs or joining established businesses, and much of the faculty is recognized internationally in their respective fields.
Lopez teaches Advanced Show Production and Fashion Forecasting at VCU. He’s been working with students to produce all facets of the show, from model selection and training to backstage operations. “The first question I always get when people hear I majored in fashion is always, ‘So, you design garments?’ But that’s only half of what the fashion department does.” From sketches to the first muslin garment to the actual product, Lopez explains, there are many steps to fashion design. Beyond that, there are merchandisers who may become designers, stylists, buyers or take on other careers within the industry.
As a first-year professor, Lopez acknowledges that heading up the annual show is a huge undertaking, but he’s nevertheless enthusiastic to be organizing the event and working with the students. “I wouldn’t say that it [has been] stressful, but there’s a lot of moving parts to it and a lot of different collaboration with a lot of different people.”
For the first time ever, there will be a sneak-preview event for the VCUarts Fashion Show held at Saxon Shoes on April 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. VCU students will give attendees a glimpse of what goes into producing the event and how the clothes get made. There will also be student designers showcasing their creations, some of which may appear on the runway at the upcoming show.
Lopez recognizes that the fashion show has evolved into an event that transcends the university, and with room for more of the community to attend this year, it’s a point of pride for the city, too. “I believe the fashion show is a representation of not just VCUarts, but VCU overall. It’s a high-profile event for VCUarts, and it represents the diversity of our school and our students … but now that it’s at the train station, we’d like to extend that to Richmond for something that Richmond can hang its hat on, and not just the university,” he says.
Tickets to the annual fashion show cost $40 to $100, with discounts available for fashion students and their families. The VCUarts Fashion Show will also be live-streamed Thursday, May 10, at 8 p.m. at arts.vcu.edu/fashion. The Saxon Shoes preview event on April 4 is free to attend.
