CMU School of Drama


Monday, March 02, 2015

Designers Construct Crayon-Inspired Looks for New York City Bloomingdale’s

Colossal: For spring 2015, Bloomingdale’s reached out to several designers to create pieces that both matched and were constructed by iconic Crayola colors. The pieces are designed with playful colors, yet have a sharp edge, the points of the crayons adding 3D elements to many of the elaborate pieces. The most dynamic, a bright yellow dress designed by Nanette Lepore, showcases a bustier of organized pinwheel crayon segments extending from the ornate neckline.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

These are so cool! It reminds me of the Lunar Gala that we have here at Carnegie Mellon University. I remember someone told me a line in the 2014 gala was made entirely of hot glue sticks. This year there was a line made entirely out of trash bags. These dresses being shown in the article remind me of installations that I fall in love with. When I look at these costumes I think of my childhood and how I always used crayons to color the clothing in a coloring book. And now the crayons are the clothing in these clothing pieces. I would love to take a chunk of my time and do something like this for a project or maybe the next Lunar Gala? Just choosing one medium and creating a master piece. And I would even wear these dresses. Not only are they creative and interesting, the way they sit on the models makes them look comfortable too.

Nikki LoPinto said...

Bloomingdales has done an incredible job since their inception of creating eye-catching window displays to entreat future customers into stepping into their stores. I'm not surprised that some of the top designers in today's fashion decided to try their hands at this unique experience -- it's not every day that someone hands you a crayon and says, "make a high fashion dress out of this". That's something out of a Project Runway challenge, not a high fashion client's mouth. Nanette Lepore is one of my favorite designers out there, and I love what she has done to create texture and movement within her yellow dress creation. If not for the logo, I would assume the tips of the crayon were studs, and the body of the dress a body con/ribbed fabric. This exhibit proves that fashion isn't simply for the wearing. It's for art as well as comfort, and people would do well to know that better as they dress themselves in the morning.