Ascend to the Future of Fashion at SCAD FASHION 2021

The innovative digital event showcases top designs by the university’s 2021 graduates and redefines the fashion show for a new virtual age.

ATLANTA AND SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: The Savannah College of Art and Design continues to innovate higher education with SCAD FASHION 2021, presented May 12–16, a virtual showcase of top senior and graduate student collections. The standout signature event invites global audiences to witness the future of the fashion industry as SCAD transcends the runway with cross-disciplinary, multimedia collaborations featuring designs by more than 120 fashion, jewelry, and accessory design students and alumni in SCAD’s award-winning School of Fashion. The impressive culmination of the graduates’ studies at SCAD, the experience attests to their expert command of the techniques and technologies that presage prominent careers in fashion. Student collections inventively engage themes of inclusion, sustainability, upcycling, and more.

Friday, May 14, SCAD debuts these brave new voices in fashion in a supersensory showcase created collaboratively by students across SCAD’s top-ranked degree programs. Filmed by the university’s production team using resources at Savannah Film Studios, the collections were rendered by professional partners in digital worlds created by SCAD motion media design, film and television, and sound design students. The collaboration highlights the university’s cross- disciplinary approach to curriculum and expertise in professional preparation.

The May 14 event also includes the world premiere of The Awakening, directed by SCAD graduate Jess Farran (B.F.A., photography, 2017), an accomplished photographer and filmmaker. The Awakening premiere precedes the collections showcase and offers an exclusive view of 10 select garments, as well as jewelry and accessories, by SCAD students. The high-concept fashion film offers a hopeful message of conscious connection and creative awakening.

Director Jess Farran has envisioned a fantastical film with the help of 200 of her friends from SCAD,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “Set in otherworldly dreamscapes, student garments evoke drama, humor, and — above all — anticipation of the future. Only at SCAD could this magical amalgam of expertise in fashion, film, sound, motion media, and visual effects celebrate so vividly the brilliance of the human imagination.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to direct The Awakening and work with these truly extraordinary SCAD students,” said Farran. “I was inspired by the uniqueness and individuality of the garments we feature in the film. Each look took on a life of its own, while coalescing into a beautiful, interconnected story. I’m so proud that The Awakening provides a platform for these students to start their careers, similar to how my time at SCAD prepared me for mine.”

In addition to the collections showcase and film premiere, SCAD FASHION 2021 includes public virtual events across four days:

• Thursday, May 13, legendary designer, author, and philanthropist Diane von Furstenberg joins SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace for a live On Creativity.
• Friday, May 14 to Sunday, May 16, the university presents the virtual SCAD Jewelry Trunk Show, featuring one-of-a-kind designs by SCAD students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
• Prior to the film premiere and collections showcase on May 14, Michael Fink, dean of the SCAD School of Fashion, moderates a conversation with industry leaders Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director for Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus; Elizabeth Giardina, vice president of design, Proenza Schouler White Label; SCAD fashion alum Mae Heidenreich (B.F.A., fashion, 2009), creative assistant and costume designer for Madonna; and 2021 SCAD fashion graduate Ivette Li.

SCAD FASHION 2021 is free and open to the public. For more information on SCAD FASHION 2021, visit scad.edu/fashion2021.