The preparation has been endless, starting with the search for inspiration. Then comes sketching, choosing models and of course painstakingly designing each work of art. And now, it’s crunch time — the day of the fashion show is approaching fast, and it’s time to put the finishing touches on dresses and make final decisions on makeup and hair for that fatefulwalk down the runway.

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It sounds like a scene backstage in Bryant Park for New York Fashion Week — hardly something that would take place in Ithaca. However, each spring for the past 25 years, the Cornell Design League has been putting on its own fashion showcase. Months of planning have gone into this year’s show, which will be staged in Barton Hall on Saturday.

Putting the Finishing Touches on a Red Dress

Kristin Colasonno ‘09, the club’s president, explained how important this 25th anniversary show is to CDL.

“We have a lot of alumni coming in for this show,” Colasonno said. “[The large scale of this year’s show is] really for them to see how far we’ve come in the last 25 years. It started as a two-person showcase, and now it’s an event with over 65 designers and about 175 models. We have over 200 pieces of clothing being designed.”

The show mainly features the work of Fiber Science Apparel & Design majors, though membership in the league is open to any student, regardless of major. The designers are divided into four levels, with first-years designing a piece or two, and fourth year designers designing a full line.

Abbey Liebman ’10 is a third year designer, with six pieces in the fashion show. Using the spring as an inspiration, she designed a series of ethereal, soft and feminine pieces.

“I’m designing mostly dresses. I have some knits too, but I was trying to do something I would never be able to do again. Only in college could you use crazy fabrics and stuff like that because you have to be realistic when you get out of college for designing stuff,” Liebman said.

While Liebman didn’t cite any particular designer influence, she did credit previous internship experience with teaching her unique, yet time consuming, techniques to set her designs apart.

“For my designs I did silk painting and I made my own fabric for it, so that helps give an extra boost of creativity to my line — it’s something you know something else doesn’t have, because you did it yourself,” Liebman said.

Liebman estimated that she spent between 100 to 150 hours designing her six pieces — a large investment of time on top of school, but necessary to make the clothing runway-ready.

“When you get out college you can’t necessarily use the most expensive materials or the time it would take to silk paint. You wouldn’t necessarily have time if you were trying to sell stuff, and even in the industry not a lot of people are buying couture garments, so if you want to put the time in during college to show what you can do, that’s good,” Liebman explained.

Those expensive materials are another example of the hefty investment of CDL. All of the designers pay for their own fabrics, but this didn’t seem to be a deterrent to participation.

“I like to spend less money on other stuff and more money on fabrics,” Liebman said.

Colasonno did say that some designers are awarded grants to help them with these costs, such as the Barbara Kuhlman Foundation, which offers financial support for the arts. She also explained that for first level designers the cost is not as substantial and by the time students are at the fourth level it’s a very worthy investment for them.

Jessie Fair ’09 had her line last year funded by the Barbara Kuhlman fiber arts grant, but this year is personally funding the entire collection, entitled “Dripping Lace,” between help from her parents and money from her job.

“I planned out everything I needed to get,” Fair said, “and every two weeks when I would get my paycheck, I would just spend it all buying fabric online. So I don’t have much money ever, but buying fabric for the show is totally worth it for me.”

Cornell’s contribution to the success of the designers manifests itself in the lessons students learn in the classroom about clothing design.

“I learned about clothing construction and patternmaking when I came to Cornell. The apparel design students learn to sew from scratch on industrial sewing machines. We spend hours and hours as freshman learning different sewing techniques and making samples. After awhile, constructing clothes comes more naturally,” Fair explained.

One designer took these designing talents and went beyond the Cornell Design League into the business world. Constanza Ontaneda ’09 started Bernales & Goretti, which just won a competition called 100 Projects for Peace for its fair wage clothing.

With school and a business on the side, it would not be surprising if Ontaneda had decided to drop her full line in CDL, but for her, participation was a necessary mode of acknowledgment for all the knowledge she has acquired at Cornell.

“Designing a line, a collection — and even when you’re in your own business you have to design collections, meaning there has to be some cohesion. You can’t just do resort wear and then in there have a winter coat. [CDL] has made me hone my skills into having some kind of cohesion in a collection, which is essential for my career as well,” Ontaneda said.

Despite Ontaneda’s successes, she did not feel any of the bitter jealousy that the fashion world is all too often known for from her fellow CDL designers.

“I do know that they look at me a little differently, and I’m not there a lot. I’m in the office with my business partner [Angeline Stuma ’09] because my priorities are pretty clear,” Ontaneda said. “I just want to have my own thing, but a lot of the designers really support me and I appreciate that.”

Ontaneda is designing 10 full looks, which is about 20 pieces plus accessories, for her line Mourning Dove Electric.

The inspiration for Mourning Dove Electric came from a sound Ontaneda heard her whole life growing up in Peru from the Mourning Dove, which produces a very sad sound. For her line, Ontaneda and all of the desingers are also responsible for creating a logo for their look, presented to the audience in the CDL program at the show.

The look of her line strays away from her usual look for Bernales & Goretti, which uses mostly bold colors. Mourning Dove Electric is a mix of dark colors such as navy and black, electrified by fuchsia shoes that Ontaneda designed.

Like Liebman, Ontaneda appreciated the freedom CDL provides her with designing, because there is no pressure to sell the pieces — although Ontaneda did mention that if people were interested in purchasing her pieces she would sell them.

“I’m not more creative with CDL … but maybe a little crazier,” Ontaneda said. “When you don’t have the mindset of ‘is someone going to buy this?’ you’re just like going to go crazy.”

Her self-professed wackiness manifests itself in such creative concepts as sculptural pieces coming out of the clothes and an extremely large hat made of wood.

For her 10 looks, Ontaneda is using 10 different models. However, she went about finding those models in an interesting way.

“I started looking in the beginning of last semester — most people start, like, right now. I’m very gung ho — what I do is I stop people on the streets. It’s totally crazy — I just stop random people on the streets. I know I want them to be my model even if I don’t know them. I introduce myself, say who I am, and no one said no,” Ontaneda said.

She explained that most people are amused and a little shocked but that this method was essential to finding the right models. Ontaneda is not looking for sickly skinny models, but did mention how essential height was for making the models look their best.

Like her clothes, which she says are for everyone, her models have no consistent look.

“I have African-American models, white, Latino — everything. I don’t care,” Ontaneda said.

Liebman however was looking for certain aesthetic look with her models and therefore chose models from her friends and within her sorority, making it easier for tracking down the models for fittings.

Preparations for Cornell Design League's Annual Fashion Show

For designers who are not as audacious as Ontaneda or do not have the personnel resources that Liebman has, CDL offers a casting call for models.

Colasonno explained that in the fall CDL advertised for their casting call, which attracted nearly 100 models. At the casting call models are required to pose for headshots, and full body shots at a wide range of angles. Potential models are also required to show off their walk to see how the models move.

“Amanda Zheng ’09 worked with getting the models together,” Colasonno explained. “We asked the designers a couple of questions about what kind of model they were looking for and then she paired them together. The model is a suggestion based on all of the factors the designer is looking for.”

Heather Donsky ’10 is modeling for Liebman on Saturday.

“It’s my second year modeling,” Donsky said. “I really enjoyed the experience the first time. I loved seeing the dress from initial sketches of dresses to having it fit for me and then getting to walk down the runway showing off the dress. The process is such a unique experience. It’s really an art, and to show that to people, to show off the student designers is special. It was an honor to be asked again.”

Last year, Donsky thrived off the excitement and buzz surrounding the fashion show, especially backstage where she witnessed the amount of effort that went into the production. Backstage is not only a place of high energy, but of nerves — models are concerned with showcasing their designer’s clothes to the best of their abilities.

“People think it’s very cool to model in the show. They always ask me if I’m scared to walk on the runway. I definitely try to practice walking in heels. I’m scared to walk in a long dress, but there are rehearsals beforehand to make you feel more comfortable, but I definitely get butterflies. The bright lights help though because you can’t really see the audience,” Donsky said.

Benefits for Donsky include the availability of professional pictures of her modeling and the VIP treatment Liebman offered her in the form getting her hair and makeup done and relaxing in a suite in the Statler.

“I’ll admit — it’s a little sad I can’t keep the dress. If I could keep it I would,” Donsky said. “The dress I’m wearing is hand-painted, it’s really beautiful — it literally is a work of art.”

Not only the garments are artwork, however — one special job within CDL is the design of the stage, an honor bestowed on Kelton Minor ’12, a Design and Environmental Analysis major.

Before even arriving at Cornell in August, Minor knew he wanted to be a part of CDL.

“I actually first heard of the annual CDL runway competition during my first visit to Cornell University last spring after sitting in on a few DEA classes,” Minor said. “At the time, it seemed like a pretty novel concept — to design a runway and have it displayed in front of thousands of people. I made a loose promise to myself then that if I indeed chose to attend Cornell I would enter the competition at some point during my education.”

From Minor’s experience deejaying parties in Colorado, he became very interested in light design, which became the inspiration for his runway design.

“I wanted to instill a level of transparency into the design to allow clear visual access to both the models and modeling process,” Minor explained. “The result is a runway that is truly interactive. As models approach the runway their silhouettes will be projected onto large translucent panels. Numerous lighting and shadows elements will accentuate the presence of the models through simple and responsive techniques.”

Other highlights of Minor’s design include illumination of the models in the center of the U-shaped stage from ceiling lights — a new technique for CDL, which had previously only used lighting on the ground.

Additionally, there are lights embedded in the stage decks that will light up as models walk by.

The pressure is on, as Minor and his team from a local building firm will only have tomorrow to build the entire stage and runway.

“The construction process is definitely going to be quite the marathon, but I’m amped for it nevertheless. The result should be … well worth it,” Minor said.

Minor’s stage is not the only thing that makes the 25th anniversary show special. Prof. Anita Racine, fiber science & apparel design, is working on one special presentation.

“A historic Cornell presentation will be made just before intermission with special music by Ithaca artist Mark Cushing,” Racine hinted.

Another highlight of this weekend’s show will be the unveiling of a Cornell tartan, which is a Scottish pattern, such as plaid. According to Colasonno, Cornell will be the only Ivy League university with its own tartan registered in Scotland. This is just another way to celebrate the long rich heritage of Cornell institutions like CDL