PHOTO ESSAY: Behind the Curtain

Whether we're embarrassed or proud, we all fear and we all love...something.

Who'd have thought, as they opened up their acceptance letter to UW-Stout, that within a year's time they'd be crafting an outfit representing someone else's love or fear?

3D Design is a foundational art course that's offered every semester at Stout. Most students take it their first year. Some take it later-like Studio Art minor students, who can take it any time.

For the students who take the class in the spring…something will be waiting for them.

Fashion Without Fabric. A beast of a project that fills the classrooms and hallways of the Applied Arts Building for three weeks every spring. It's not just a project. It's a fashion runway show with judges, lights and awards.

Every year, the project adopts a theme. This past spring, it was Philias and Phobias.

Get ready to be spooked…or allured. Or both.

Maybe these students knew how laborious this project would be, maybe not. Eventually, groups picked their words out of a paper bag.

Fear of failure, love of heights.
Love of plants, fear of light.

Eyes widening, they looked at their group mate(s) in order to decide: Do we keep it or exchange it?

If you visited any of the classes working on these outfits, you'd find groups with their focus faces on. Some groups bantered about silly things. Some had class-wide discussions about fish (which were quite serious).

Chunks of foam, cardboard, spray paint, coffee filters, sheets of plastic, bike tires, plastic spoons and stilts are all on the table.

You'd enjoy the sounds of the materials being worked with, cut, carved, glued, ruffled, smashed, crumpled…and sometimes bedazzled.

Just imagine. A college final where you're on stage in front of family, friends, and the Chancellor of UW-Stout. The lights are blinding and so hot, and you're wearing everything besides the normal clothes you'd feel comfortable in. Talk about a nightmare!

But guess what? These students don't quit. Their grit, creativity, energy and teamwork made up for any fear that bubbled up inside them.

"The whole point of the class is to learn the materials," said Izzy Quade. You tell 'em, Izzy.

Shay Adesiji and Izzy were groupmates working with the word xerophobia. Take a swig of this: fear of dryness.

Their group had more setbacks than two hands can count, but they laughed, shrugged and problem-solved their way through it.

Being Wisconsin's only Polytechnic University, there are a few unwritten principles we hold near and dear.

One of them is that we don't believe great things are born in a neat and tidy room.

We have so many labs and studios… There are hundreds of spaces for our students to make a mess, all in the name of learning.

Textbooks and laptops are necessary, but for many of our program's core classes, the additional collaboration with people and materials will delightfully clutter our 180+ labs just the way we intend.

It's 3:00 a.m. in Applied Arts.

It's the night before the show, and Shay and Izzy's sand pants are breaking into pieces that resemble Doritos. In that moment, we doubt they felt thankful for the opportunity to be working on this project. They were, however, beyond thankful when the other art students who were working on projects (for other classes, also at 3:00 a.m.) asked how they could help keep them from dissolving on stage.

It's rare for people to pull back the curtain and see those special moments-the moments students remember forever.

Fashion Without Fabric glows like a neon sign in the memory of everyone who experienced it, good or bad. At UW-Stout, we do our best to make sure it's not for nothing.

Out of the mystical brown paper bag, partners Allie Seanor and Lucas Moreno-Martinez III drew luekophobia, the fear of white.

Inspired by Iris Van Herpen and the elements, they each designed an outfit to wear on the runway that gave the project an extraterrestrial touch. Both know how to put a sewing machine to good use, so they worked to create a final product that would eventually earn the "Artistry and Craft" honorable mention.

We're not going to claim that this project builds strong foundations for good friendships, but it can. It has.

Allie and Lucas started off serious, not intending to become good pals.

Eventually, they started to warm up to each other, became friends and hung out together outside of working on their outfits. They never thought they could win, so they eased up. Little did they know…

Allie said she always looked forward to class to work with Lucas.

Lucas shared that even though his and Allie's outfits went right in the garbage after the show, their friendship remains intact.

Maybe the real prize were the friends they made along the way…

The big reward is the ending.

The end is the show, the performance, the big shebang. Fashion Without Fabric is a seriously fun event, full of energy and spectacular creativity.

It's when everyone claps as you enter and exit the stage.

The end is when the class concludes and the lessons continue in future classes, jobs, and life.

The end is where we look back and remember the good times, and the bad, and then we move forward.

As you begin, dive in. Make a mess. Make a friend.

Make something you're proud of.

Students featured in the story:

Shay Adesiji is a first-year Game Design & Development student.
Izzy Quade is a first-year Industrial & Product Design student.
Lucas Moreno-Martinez III is junior Fashion and Retail student with a Studio Art minor.
Allie Seanor is a first-year Art Education student with a Studio Art minor.

Watch the 2024 Fashion Without Fabric Runway Show