A Traversal Evening With The Vault: The Wright Look Fashion Show
Written By Jordyn Salahiddine-Rose
On Sunday, April 27th The Vault held its spring semester fashion show, The Wright Look. The amazing event was hosted in partnership with The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Monona Terrace. The show had looks inspired by the different eras of Frank Llyod Wright’s life, including the buildings of his apprentices, his own personal creations and the architecture principles he observed. Featuring four acts, the event represented the legacy of Wright and who he was as a person as well as architect. The show not only honored the artistry of Wright, but also the incredible hard work that Vault students put into their designs over the past few months.
Frank Llyod Wright was an inspiring architect of his time; changing the way that we now build and live. Throughout his span of work he designed 1,114 architectural works of all types, some of them being of the most imaginative spaces in the United States. Wright’s innovative career gained him his place as the American Institute of Architects’ “greatest American architect of all time.” The Vault wanted to expand on his visionary work by bringing architecture and fashion together with over 60 looks. Each act corresponds with an era of Wright’s life, as each design was well thought out and meticulously made to show the life of Wright.
Throughout production, designers spent countless hours sketching out their designs, finding unique fabrics and materials, attending meetings and collaborating with other fellow members; all to perfect their Wright design. Each design was made to symbolize a different aspect of Wright’s life, while also incorporating distinctive artistic choices. Designers were allowed to choose what they wanted to take inspiration from, choosing from things like Wright’s life itself, the creations from his apprentices, his own designs and the principles that he lived his architectural work by. This empowered designers to make their artistry more unique to them, while also paying homage to Wright and his legacy.
Obviously the designers played a huge part in making the fashion show incredibly brilliant, but the models were able to bring Wright’s legacy to life on the runway. During the production phase, measurements were attentively taken, as the designers also had to take into account who would be wearing their design so that it would fit perfectly. The models also had to rehearse for the show, practicing their strut for the runway. On show day, there was a lot of collaborative work that led to the stunning outcome. From hairstylists to makeup artists to even live music, there was a variety of people behind the scenes that contributed to the success of the show. All Vault members part of the fashion show worked so hard to bring together such a profound and glorious night, including photographers, Melissa Lui who put together our lookbook.
Act One of the event showcased the life of Wright, some of the looks ranged from Frank Lloyd Wright himself, designed by Andrea Ortiz and modeled by Max Bublik, the valley, paying homage to where he was born and raised, which was designed and modeled by Montana Moon and origami influence, relating to how origami impacted his interest for architecture, designed by Katherine Genrich and modeled by Devika Pal. Then, Act Two consisted of his most influential and iconic works. Some of the looks in this act included, the Romeo and Juliet Windmill, designed and modeled by Coco Guiou, the Emil Bach house, designed by Avena Mao and modeled by Sawyer Barta and all four of the Fallingwater looks, which were all different looks used to express what it meant for Wright to use water in his designs; the four looks were designed by Katherine Adams, Dovile Riebschlager, Michelle Kim and Brynn Slattery and modeled by Ann Oakman, Zoe Zabel, Brynn Slattery and Daniela Vercollone. Next, Act Three was about the echoes of his innovation, his apprentices and their designs. Some of the looks consisted of the Schindler House, designed and modeled by Lilly Miranda, the Kaufmann Desert House, designed and modeled by Jordann Landretti and the Chemosphere House, designed by Melina Zarboulas and modeled by Jada Matson. And finally, Act Four was based on the general architecture principles that Wright lived by. A few amazing looks part of this act included, the three organic architecture looks, designed by Marlo Pulliam and modeled by her, Helena Dobbs and Mackenzie Grech, pantone colors, designed by Meliana Zarboulas and modeled by Lily Carlson and nature’s integration, which was a primarily important concept to Wright and his work, designed and modeled by Elziabeth Murray.
The show was more than just about fashion; it was a praise to who Frank Lloyd Wright was and the brilliant career he had. The Vault did such a good job at respecting Wright and his work through how beautiful architecture can be and the concepts of innovation and forward design. The amount of work put into all parts of the show, from the designs, the photography, the music, the set design, the hair and makeup and finally to the narration throughout the event, is truly shown in how amazing the whole fashion show was. Every look was outstanding and so thought out, and for me personally, I was in awe throughout the whole show. The Vault continues to elevate the standards of fashion on campus and that was truly shown in The Wright Look.
Not only was the fashion show able to pay homage to Wright’s legacy, but also to the legacy of The Vault’s founders, Meliana Zarboulas and Marlo Pulliam. As it is their senior year, this was their last fashion show as President and Vice President of The Vault. The club they built from the ground up has completely changed how fashion and business blend together. They have created more than a club, though, they created a family, and we will continue to honor what they built and the family they raised.
