Behind the Scenes for Next in Line

by Kyle Marlin

October 19, 2023

To run a photoshoot, one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is a photographer. Luckily, Nick Ortoleva (@nickortoleva on Instagram), a junior in Photography, was able to help photograph the fashion pieces. He has always been really interested in fashion and says he was inspired from working in portraiture. He told us “I have always been interested in psychology and these relationships we build with people and I transpose that into really enjoying fashion” further explaining that clothing and fashion is a way to communicate to one another. Some things he likes about it is how fast paced everything is and how all kinds of creatives are coming together to create a collaborative environment. “Bringing something from a concept to this final product where everybody has some hand in it” Without the joint collective, we wouldn’t have art.

When asked how she was running the entire photoshoot, she had lots to say. She told us that she helped out with the senior photoshoot and was inspired to do something similar for her junior classmates. Thankfully she was able to open up an opportunity for them to get documentation. She says “It's really hard to get models and the whole set up as you can see. I have just been running around the school for the past couple weeks.” One person that made this whole thing possible was Max Azanow, who is Alex’s professor for a class she takes: Stagecraft. The class mainly focuses on sound, projection, lighting and some behind-the-scenes stage experience. “I feel like with my major, you show up with the clothes and now I have the other half of ‘This is how I would light this, this is how I would put it together’ and it's nice to have both” Alex exclaims. 

On April 12th, 2023, DON Magazine went behind the scenes to see what the fashion design juniors were up to. As an art student, it is crucial for you to get documentation of your work and that is exactly what was taking place at Pozen. Recently, the juniors were assigned to make something under the category of couture. With such beautiful and creative pieces finished, they of course had to do a photo shoot for it.

We spoke with the head runner: Alex Arruda (@ajadesigns02 on Instagram). She said she was inspired by the senior photoshoot she helped out with previously and decided to have a photoshoot for the juniors. This is how it all went down:

The reason we are all here today: one of the designers, Samantha Hostage (@samhostage on Instagram) —a Junior in Fashion Design who modeled her own garment. She tends to take inspiration from women, nature, matriarchs, and being bold and graceful. With the dress she made you can clearly see that she designed a blue dress with a corset bodice, inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s Some Like It Hot dress. She clearly has a lot of admiration and knowledge for the figure stating: “She was icon in the sixties for wearing sheer dresses and just showing her beautiful form shamelessly.” From this inspiration, she uses lots of glitter, sheer fabrics and a sixties high-low skirt. The dress plays with the balance of a softer more feminine look, while also showing off one's body shape and not being afraid to hide it. 

Another designer we talked to was Lucas Pedrelli (@fabricsnshit on Instagram). The piece he designed was inspired by a video game he played about a samurai, resembling Japanese armor. In the piece, he plays with different contrasting colors. He makes them cohesive even though people wouldn’t normally think to put them together as seen in the clothing within the game as well. Another technique he experimented with  was mixing up different textiles. He told us “When junior year kicks up, you get a whole lot of freedom. [You]really start to make clothing you really want to create and focus on designs and techniques.”  This allowed him and everyone else to explore and have this photoshoot possible. 

The couture photoshoot became one beautiful project. One thing everyone mentioned was how close knit the community they have in fashion as well as the school in general– From Alex curating this photoshoot together to Nick being appreciative of the collaborative aspect drawing him towards fashion photography. We also asked everyone what their favorite aspect of the fashion major is and Lucas sums it up greatly:“Fashion: it sounds corny, but it's a family. You meet people that are gonna be in your life for a really long time and they’re gonna help you push your own art and you're gonna help them push their art”. This is what fashion is all about.