For the CMU students in the Apparel Merchandising and Design majors the name, Jason Gagnon is one most if not all are familiar with. He has made quite a name for himself throughout his college career at Central and plans on continuing his awe-inspiring work at this year’s Threads Fashion Show.
Jason has become quite the pro the past 3 years as a designer and producer for the Threads Fashion Show held on CMU’s campus. Being that this is his 4th and last year performing in Threads, Jason plans on going out with a bang. There are no chances he isn’t willing to take and hopes to impress the judges as much as he did in years past.
Last year, Jason not only one for his age group, he also won collection of the year out of 39 designers. This monumental accomplishment is the motivation he needs to pull out another fantastic collection this spring. The theme for the show this year is movies. They announce the theme during the summer so designers can begin to brainstorm and start gathering necessities for their collection. At first, Jason chose the movie, The Wizard of Oz. He found fabrics, accessories and created patterns for his garments only to realize the movie, The Wonderful Oz was coming out shortly before the Threads show. With a couple months gone to waste, Jason decided to scrap the idea and start from the beginning with the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha.
The film portrays a young girl sold into slavery and is sent to school to become a geisha. It goes through her struggles as well as the war that is being fought between Japan and the U.S. Jason brings in the traditional styles of the geisha’s clothing and adds his own spin. Using current trends to tie in his design techniques, he is sure to wow each and every audience member as his models strut down the runway April 13th.
Jason hopes to create his own clothing line in Chicago or New York in the future. To say the least, this doesn’t look like an impossible dream for him. Make sure to purchase your tickets at Threadsfashionshow.com or the event center. The cost is $10 for CMU students and General Admission for $12. The show is held at the Plachta Auditorium in Warriner Hall on April 13th at 7pm. We can’t wait to see all the designers’ collections rocking the runway!