There are many reasons to attend Fashion Camp this June! We talked to a few campers from previous years to get the details on their experience and the opportunities they received from camp. After attending fashion camp, these campers applied to show a full collection at Omaha Fashion Week and were selected to participate!
Mitchell Henderson. Mitchell debuted a fall/winter collection at Omaha Fashion Week March 2016.
Prior to Fashion Camp, Mitchell tells us, “I have done some basic sewing classes as well as produced many fashion sketches, but no real formal experience as a designer before fashion camp.” He goes on to say, “The people made me more of a well rounded fashion designer with insight about what it takes to make a garment from start to finish. The people helped me construct one of my first garments and I still occasionally will take it out and wear it around town.”
At camp, Mitchell participated in several different activities such as learning the basics of hand and machine sewing. In addition, campers learned the process of constructing a garment, how to do fashion sketches in correct proportions and modeling techniques.
We asked Mitchell about his experience at OFW and he explained, “For the first time last season, I decided to try and become a designer myself. Things went well during the application and interview process and the experience and knowledge that I was able to gain through being apart of OFW will truly help me forever with my future fashion career.”
Grace Neary. Grace attended Fashion Camp in its first year; she showed collections in March 2015 and March 2016.
Grace had a little bit of background in sewing prior to attending camp, but had a lot of interest in the fashion industry. “Alyssa Dilts became a huge mentor for me and really helped me gain the confidence to believe that I could show in OFW. Learning about the industry and watching the Tents documentary was a huge part of it,” she tells us.
At camp, participants went to Goodwill and were given $5 to purchase a garment and the objective was to completely recreate it. Campers used the techniques learned at camp to transform the garment into their own piece. “Camp definitely helped me gain resources within the fashion community to go to for advice when showing in OFW,” Grace explained.
Ciara Fortun. Ciara debuted a collection in March 2016 at Omaha Fashion Week. Her collection won the $500 nightly prize provided by SAC Federal Credit Union.
Ciara participated in Fashion Camp because of her interest to go into the fashion industry. She mentioned her experience prior to camp and said, “Before going to Fashion Camp, I had a general idea of how the industry worked, but nothing compared to what I learned. After attending, I felt like I was opened up to so many more opportunities than I initially thought. It gave me a good understanding about all aspects.”
During camp, they learned about the business side of the fashion industry, as well as tapping into the creative side in design. When we asked Ciara what the best part of Fashion Camp was for her, she told us, “My favorite part of fashion camp was getting to meet other people who had the same interests as myself and I loved getting into a creative community like that.”
Her experience with camp assisted Ciara for her runway experience. “I think camp was a great foundation for OFW because I had a grasp on what requirements there were, and how I could go about post-show with the business aspect. [OFW] was a great experience, especially as a young designer, because I felt like it got my name out there at a good time in life,” she said.
Katelyn Otto. Katelyn attended Fashion Camp and was chosen to show on platforms at Omaha Fashion Week during the March 2016 shows.
Just like many campers, Katelyn attended to gain more knowledge in the fashion industry. And, like others, Katelyn had little experience before participating. “Fashion Camp gave me so much more confidence in my abilities since at the end of Fashion Camp I was one of seven chosen to have their design shown on a platform at OFW. Fashion Camp taught me how to present and organize my designs and ideas through mood boards and gave me an overview of the industry which overall boosted my confidence about the field of study I was planning to go into,” she said.
At camp, Katelyn learned how to create mood boards, hand stitching techniques, modeling techniques, how to illustrate fashion sketches and how to successfully plan an event.
