The Eiffel Tower glows brightly behind sophomore Mercedes Amieva as she struts down the auditorium stage in the fashion show May 4. Her elaborate black and white dress with ornate red tights is one of senior Serena Russell’s many original designs.

Senior Julia May models a selection from senior Serena Russell's clothing line. Student designers exhibited unique clothing designs at the fashion show May 4. Photo by Billy Bird.

This year’s show,  “A Night in Paris,” featured the work of 20 Fashion Society designers, who each had a team of three to 17 models showcase unique designs.

The designers  have been preparing for the show over the last six months, freshman Lex Payne said. Payne, who started her collection in December, said that creating her first line was stressful, but she’s proud of the outcome.

Many designers didn’t have a particular theme, but rather a common color scheme or pattern to unify their collection’s style, co-president Sammy Bar said.

Juniors Madison Craig and Monique Kamargo centered their line around royal blue, scarlet and blue-and-white patterned fabrics.

“We didn’t really have a set theme, but we had three different fabrics that we used,” Craig said. “They all flow, but they’re each their own.”

Other designers, like Russell, did have a common theme. Russell’s line had elements of horror movies, with clothes based on werewolves and straightjackets.

“Horror movies are one of my passions,” she said. “[Horror film director] Tim Burton has influenced everything in my life and I wanted to bring that to fashion.”

This year’s Parisian theme was a last-minute decision, club sponsor Danielle Fus said.

“We started out with ‘The City of Lights,’ but then we just kind of went with Paris,” co-vice president Jessica Atkinson said. “We were inspired by the whole old-time-Paris thing, like Coco Chanel.”

The results of the show were fulfilling, despite the stressful week preceding it, Atkinson said.

“This week has been crazy and hectic,” she said. “But it’s all paid off and we’re really excited about how the show turned out.”