Students try fashion design
Trends, fabrics part of classes for middle-schoolers
By Jamar Younger
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A local art program has new after-school classes that teach Foothills and Tanque Verde teenagers about fashion and allow them to create their own designs.
Participants in the TeenzArt Fashion Forward program are learning about the principles of fashion design, including the proportions of fashion models, properties of colors, and seasonal fashion trends.
About 20 students from the Catalina Foothills School District and the Tanque Verde Unified School District are participating in the program. It is a part of the KidzArt franchise and is offered through each school district's Community Schools program.
The classes began this semester at Orange Grove and Esperero Canyon middle schools in Catalina Foothills and Tanque Verde High School and Emily Gray Junior High School in Tanque Verde.
"I just really like clothes and I like to draw a lot," said Amanda Monroy, an eighth-grader at Orange Grove Middle School. "I like to watch a lot of fashion television shows."
Amanda, 13, has an affinity for 1980s-style clothing and has spent most of the class designing retro-style clothes that could fit into today's styles, she said.
"A lot of hot pinks, blues, greens. I'm designing for the '80s, but stuff people would want to wear (now)," she said.
The Foothills school district program lasts eight weeks, and the Tanque Verde program lasts six weeks, said KidzArt executive director Maureen Shields.
The students receive sketchbooks and portfolios, and discuss fashion concepts such as layering, accessories and when to wear certain fabrics. The students then incorporate the lessons into their drawings, said TeenzArt instructor Karla Rivas.
"It's a really nice way to have a program for kids that's going to be fun and still educational," she said. "It actually addresses something they're interested in."
The class also gives them a foundation in case they want to pursue a fashion-design career, Rivas said.
On the first day of class four weeks ago, Rivas asked her students about their fashion inspirations, she said.
"I asked them what magazines do they want (to use in the class), who do you watch on television," she said. "If they walk into Forever 21 and see a jacket, they can say, 'That has the same element as what we worked on this week.' "
Beth Kaminski, 13, said she wants to work in graphic design when she gets older, but the fashion-design class offers her new perspectives on art.
"I really, really like drawing and thought it would be interesting to do something like this because you'll find different aspects of art," said Beth, an eighth-grader at Orange Grove.
Beth has learned a lot about color palettes, fashion models and, especially, the differences between certain types of fabrics, she said.
"It was really interesting to learn how different fabrics move and fold, and how light and heavy they are," she said. "The lighter the fabric, the more it folds."
Izabella Delgado, 12, said she draws inspiration from the styles and colors she sees on shows such as America's Next Top Model.
Izabella enjoys creating designs and adding accessories, she said.
"We make our own designs and do whatever we want with them, adding details like purses and bracelets," said Izabella, a seventh-grader. Izabella also is a big fan of the Dolce & Gabanna clothing line, she said.
"Sometimes it's over the top, like huge dresses or really small shirts," she said. "It just inspires me, because it's just different and cool."
foothills
● Contact reporter Jamar Younger at 434-4076 or jyounger @azstarnet.com.
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