Tailor Made Fashion Club to host 36th annual fashion show

By Jack Kan, Photographer|May 21, 2018

On Tuesday, May 29 the Tailor Made Fashion Club sponsored 36th annual fashion show will kick off at 7 p.m. in the East Dining Room above the El Camino College Bookstore. This year’s theme is “City of Lights.”

Candidate DaMoryei Lathan auditions in front of the fashion show model selection student committee in the Student Activities Center on Thursday, March 29. Photo credit: Jack Kan

The event will be hosted by EC lecturer Gayle Baizer, who is a costume designer and stylist in her own right. The show will also feature a “Mini Hair Show” by the EC Cosmetology Department.

This event is the culmination of the Fashion 44 class “Fashion Show Production”, taught by professor Vera Bruce Ashley of the EC Fashion Department. The show is run by fashion student committees. Eight designers are set to design and produce a full collection of five pieces each. These collections will be shown by more than twenty models.

Fashion Show student committee treasurer Desirée Villatoro manages the shoe selection available to model candidates during the first open model call held at the Student Activities Center on Thursday, March 29. Photo credit: Jack Kan

Professor Vera Bruce Ashley, who teaches the Fashion 44 class, stands among the dress forms in her classroom at El Camino College. Photo credit: Jack Kan

The models were selected through an exhaustive process consisting of two model calls which took place at the Students Activities Center on Thursday, March 29 and on Tuesday, April 3. The casting calls were open to the public at large, as candidates of all ages, shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and experience levels were sought.

A diverse group of candidates came to the first open model call held at the Student Activities Center on Thursday, March 29. Photo credit: Jack Kan

For example, Ashley said that the “plus size” segment of the fashion apparel market is becoming increasingly important nowadays.

Cross-dressing performance artist Malik Smith was on hand to help the model candidates with tips on how to move on the catwalk. The fashion industry is known to be LGBTQ-friendly, and the model application form and contract featured an explicit non-discrimination policy. Los Angeles is now widely recognized as the epicenter of the mass market fashion industry in the country.