The Kent State University Museum held its fifth annual “Fashion Meets the Botanicals” event at the Cleveland Botanical Garden on March 3, 2018. Over 100 guests attended the event, making it the largest crowd the event has ever had.
Fifteen orchid-inspired garments made it into the competition. The students involved in this event used an image of an orchid to create a computer-generated design for custom fabric, and then utilized the School’s TechStyleLAB’s fabric printer to produce their fabric. The students then designed and constructed a garment using their fabric.
Guests in attendance savored refreshments while the students’ designs were modeled throughout the Garden, and they had the opportunity to speak with the models and the students about their designs while seeing the garments up close. Guests then voted for their favorite looks in the categories of “Best Use of Inspiration”, “Best Fabric Design” and “Best in Show”. Three students walked away with the top awards.
Junior design student, Sloan Fox, won the “Best Use of Inspiration” award for her design titled “Hidden Orchid Dress”. Junior Melissa Johnson won “Best Fabric Design” for her design “Piece by Piece” and junior Amber Johnson won “Best in Show” for her dress titled “Zero-Waste Bridal Gown”. Out of the three winners, Melissa Johnson was the only designer in attendance to accept her award in person; the other two students are currently studying abroad as part of the Fashion Schools Study Away Program, FSGlobal. For more photos and videos of the event, please visit the Fashion School’s Facebook page.
About the Museum
The Kent State University Museum currently holds over 40,000 pieces in its collection, amassed from many generous donors over the years. In 1982, The Kent State University Foundation received one of the largest donations they had ever received; a gift containing 4,000 costumes, 1,000 pieces of decorative art, and a 5,000-volume reference library from New York dress manufacturers Jerry Silverman and Shannon Rodgers. In 1985, the Museum officially opened its doors and made it possible to share all of the extraordinary donated pieces with the public.
The Museum is located at 515 Hilltop Drive, at the corner of E. Main St. and S. Lincoln St. in Kent, Ohio. The museum is open to the public on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. - 8:45 p.m.; and Sunday from noon - 4:45 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for children under 18. The museum is free with a Kent State ID and free to the public on Sunday. Parking is free. For more information, call 330-672-3450 or visit the Museum’s website.
About the Cleveland Botanical Garden
Founded in 1930 as the Garden Center of Cleveland, Cleveland Botanical Garden today is a not-for-profit organization that welcomes close to 150,000 guests each year and provides plant-science lessons to 12,500 schoolchildren annually. Garden guests enjoy delightful surprises, quiet moments and lots of fun as they explore 10 acres of beautiful outdoor gardens and the 18,000-square-foot Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse.
Open all year, the Garden offers guests extra opportunities to celebrate the seasons with special events such as Orchid Mania in February, the Annual Egg Hunt in spring, Gourmets in the Garden through summer, RIPE! Fest in fall and the popular WinterShow tradition now known as Glow.
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Media Contact:
- Brittani Peterson, Fashion School marketing associate, bpeter12@kent.edu, 330-672-2714