AIU South Florida Fashion and Film Under the Stars Gala
December 8, 2011
•AIU South Florida
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By Mike Sheetz, Media Production Program Chair
Hollywood glamour arrived on the South Florida campus on 11-11-11 when our own Fashion and Media Production programs kicked off their inaugural Fashion and Film Under the Stars gala.
Organized by program chairs Sharon Ali (Fashion Marketing Design) and Michael Sheetz (Media Production), the evening’s festivities kicked off with a black-tie-inspired reception. Complete with red carpet, photo wall and dazzling runway models, a chic party atmosphere permeated the campus as students, faculty, staff and guests mixed and mingled as they enjoyed the wonderfully decadent food provided by the talented chefs at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.
For more photos from this event, visit our album on Facebook.
Behind the scenes, the media and fashion students frantically scurried about making last minute preparations and enduring yet one last “run-through,” until finally, the curtain went up on.
Billed as collaboration between film and fashion, the show did not disappoint, starting off with a documentary film highlighting the symbiotic relationship between our media and fashion departments. Skillfully documenting the process of taking a concept from inspiration through to realization, the media production department provided the visual and musical backdrop for the Fashion students’ cinematically inspired clothing designs, which built upon the music of pop icons, Madonna, Sade and Sting.
Not to be outshined, our media production students then proudly unveiled the short film Say it Like You Mean It, which they painstakingly crafted over a scant 48-hour period in preparation for the 2011 Miami 48-hour film project. The audiences’ reactions proved that our students’dedicated efforts were not wasted. As the crowd reacted to the final poignant on-screen kiss, their rousing applause was worth all the hard work as our budding filmmakers got to experience the incomparable pride of watching an audience react to their hard work.
As the final credits of the fashion and film documentary faded to black and the house lights flickered, the resonant thump of runway music filled the house telegraphing that the grand finale of the evening had rocketed to full speed. From the moment the first model stepped through the screen until the second curtain call the audience was treated to a cornucopia of wonderfully creative and beautiful garments representing our students’ creative vision. From flowing Kimono style dresses to more avante garde, bamboo adorned mini-dresses our students’ creations were clearly the stars of this Hollywood inspired evening. As instructor Martha Amaya and program chair Sharon Ali joined their students to take a final bow it was clear that this year’s fashion and film event had exceeded everyone’s expectation.
Coming together without even a single wardrobe malfunction, the inaugural Fashion and Film Under the Stars Gala has proven once again just how creative, motivated and talented our students here in south Florida really are. Imagining how phenomenal next year’s gala will be, I know I can’t wait.