Student designers take on “With Love Halston” challenge

Article co-written by Havana Weigant.

The annual Fashion Show this year concluded by highlighting students’ abilities to create designs and produce wearable pieces of art inspired by the work of Roy Halston Frowick.

Lipscomb is home to the third-largest collection of Halston’s archives in the country, and the “With Love Halston” Foundation hosts a design challenge for schools throughout the world to create designs based on his work. The foundation is visiting Lipscomb for the second time in its history.

This year, seven students participated in this challenge, and the winner received a scholarship of 10,000 dollars.

To begin the challenge, designers were paired with a fine art student to create not only a unique take on Halston’s work but also a showcase that goes beyond the clothing.

Designer Amaris and artist Ker, who participated in the challenge, shed light on some of the inner workings of the project. “They picked out people that they believed could do this project together and work well…. She [Amaris] had a mood board that helped me to go off of, so I think as she created her piece of art I was creating mine.”

Students not only had to make art inspired by each other, but by the work of Halston himself. Halston’s work was described as “clothing for the daughters of the ladies who lunch,” and he “liked the drapery of fabric, minimal seams, and wrap scarves or similar wrap belts,” shared sophomore designer Amaris McFarlane.

Following the creation of each art piece and garment, they were displayed in the John C. Hutchison Gallery on October 29 for an opening ceremony of the Halston Gallery. This will be up for the year, and students and staff are invited to visit. 

While displayed, student designers were asked to describe their creation process, what parts of Halston’s work inspired them, and thoughts on the final outcome. 

In her description of Halston’s inspiration for her piece, junior Angelina Rodriguez said, “He loved training, minimalism, and looking simple, but the construction is actually fairly complicated”. 

Following this idea, Rodriguez spent close to 70 hours hand-sewing her garment together. “It was such a labor of love, and it was so hard,” she said. 

Each designer who participated in the challenge voiced similar ideas of minimal seams and flowing fabrics within their designs; this was a way to pay homage to Halston’s design style. Although the piece looked amazing on the mannequin, its flowy movement was intended to be showcased on the runway. 

The runway was held on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the 1 Hotel in Nashville. The event was entirely put on by the Halston Foundation, with food and drink and a silent auction.

The student designers came out right before the show to explain their designs and socialize with attendees. Then everyone filed in to take their seats and wait for the show to start.

One by one, the models came onto the runway and showcased the outfits. Many of them had multiple versions and pieces that came off on the runway. After all of the models showcased their looks, the designers came out to walk alongside their pieces. 

Roy Halston’s niece gave a speech about the importance of everyone who has worked hard to make this event possible. Then the winners were announced.

Starting with an award named after an old member of the foundation, this honorary award was given to Amaris McFarlane, a sophomore designer and the youngest participant in the event. 

The third-place award went to Angelina Rodriguez for her Japanese-inspired piece. 

Second place was awarded to Reagan Sanders. 

Lastly, the winner of the event was Avery Earnshaw, taking home the main award of 10,000 dollars. Her piece explored not only Halston’s history but also his appreciation for minimalism and movement.