It can be staring at the wall, face to face with tree bark or even on the way to the bus stop when it hits.
Like a lightning bolt approaching from a far away sky, the visual idea can hit the mind of Jaclyn Brodersen at a moment’s notice.
Just like that, her paperback sketchbook whooshes open and what was thought is now written.
“That’s 95% of the process for me, just getting my ideas down,” liberal arts and engineering (LAES) junior Brodersen said.
Brodersen will be one of the designers in the upcoming spring fashion show.
The fashion show is a collaborative event between Cal Poly’s Sustainable Fashion Club and the Fashion, Innovation, Trendsetting and Styling club. According to Designer Relations Committee Lead Jordan Langley, this year will be the third annual fashion show. It will showcase works from 28 different designers and according to Langley, will be a “great showcase of fashion movement on campus.” The event is mostly student funded and will be fully student run.
Designers for the show have begun to dive into the creative process. That involves cultivating a line of clothing that reflects their own styles while channeling the show’s theme: symbiosis. Each student’s design process takes form in a unique way.
Brodersen will be teaming up with plant science student Danny Puga to create a new line of clothing for the show.
“Our collection is kind of a symbiosis between the two of us, between our thoughts kind of growing and intertwining and mingling with each other,” Brodersen said.
According to Brodersen, the duo’s interpretation of symbiosis will be seen through textile variations. Puga and Brodersen are teaming up to create a mixed media line for this spring.
“It’s the materials, the weaves, the finishes, the shapes, the forms,” Brodersen said.
The mixed media line (a line using multiple mediums or materials) will not only fuse together run-of-the-mill textile fabrics, but it will also showcase a Cal Poly fashion show first: mycelium based textiles.
Yes, that’s fashion made from mushrooms.
They admitted that they don’t know for sure if they can pull it all off, but are nevertheless excited to work on it and begin experimenting.
“I think it’s an important part of the process to not necessarily stray away from something just because it is not clear,” Brodersen said.
The pair is also interested in growing plants in the clothing itself.
“I would really love to experiment with growing lichen or mycelium or even cultivating a fungi into a crocheted piece,” Brodersen said.
Brodersen and Puga have distinctly different individual artistic flares which have begun to melt together in their design process. Puga loves crochet pieces and denim. Brodersen loves nylon and latex. They both love leather.
Puga is a crochet artist with a small crochet business. This is the first time Puga is partnering up with someone and admits that it will be an interesting process to navigate. The team has decided to be blunt with each other throughout the creative process, saying when they do or do not like something about the design.
“I think that’s the hardest part, but it’s honestly the easier part,” Puga said with a chuckle.
Something really important to the both of them is producing their clothing line by sustainably sourcing materials. The duo are actively working on collecting their materials by thrifting items or purchasing scraps from leather or textile shops.
“This is like an evolution of the idea of clothing, it’s a pair of jeans but nobody’s showing love to it, so let’s use it in a different way,” Puga said.
At this point in Brodersen and Puga’s design process, they are still planning out what their line will look like and what message they want it to make.
“I think that it’s important that we feel comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Brodersen said.
For business student sophomore Alexia Gonzales, the symbiosis theme can be seen in her work through a related theme: mutualism.
Gonzales explained mutualism by giving an example of an insect helping another insect for survival reasons. She is taking inspiration from historic Venetian masquerade balls in which party goers would wear masks to disguise their identities and class status.
“That’s really mutualism because it helped people talk to others and say what they needed to say without showing their true identity,” Gonzales said.
This concept will be seen visually in her line through red and black fabrics, the use of masks, and lots of feathers.
Gonzales is planning on creating four outfits: a corset and flared pants, a dip hem dress, an asymmetrical dress, and one other piece that is not quite figured out yet.
“One of the pieces I’m making is a corset that’s reddish blackish and it’s kind of like fake leather looking, like snakeskin,” Gonzales said.
The two spring lines will both adhere to the symbiosis theme, but will look extremely different.
While Gonzales might have feathers flying around her workspace, Brodersen and Puga are more likely to be tangled up in lichen.
Either way we will have to patiently wait for the designers to create and do what they love.
“If you have something that sparks joy, I think it’s really important to explore it and hold onto it and not just let it go,” Brodersen said.
As Brodersen’s ideas begin to dance through their sketchbook, we will just have to wait to see what hops off the page and onto the runway.
“You have to start somewhere,” Brodersen said. “Once you start making it’s easier to continue making.”