2019 Designer Profiles: Jillian Lepek & Anne Wang
Every year, the MODA Fashion Show wraps up winter quarter with the perfect homage to student talent, hard work and creativity. In anticipation of the show, we have been interviewing some of the designers involved in this year’s show. Meet Jillian Lepek and Anne Wang , 4th years who are designing for the show the first time!
What are some sources of inspiration for your collection?
We decided to work together after becoming friends abroad in Morocco! A large part of our friendship centers on our common aesthetic preferences, which came to be the core of the collection—warm, autumnal colors, woven textures, and clean, up-and-down lines.
Have you ever done fashion design work before? What are some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of the process?
Neither of us have done real fashion design work prior to this. Mastering the discipline to train ourselves through the unfamiliar parts of clothing design was a big challenge. Just being able to persist through mistakes and turn an idea into reality was rewarding through both in its process, and through the final result.
What are you looking forward to most about the show?
We can’t wait to see every designer’s collection get appreciated by the crowd! We know how hard everyone’s worked and it’s all culminating at the show, so the atmosphere is going to be amazing.
“A large part of our friendship centers on our common aesthetic preferences, which came to be the core of the collection—warm, autumnal colors, woven textures, and clean, up-and-down lines. ”
Who do you have in mind when you’re designing?
We try to keep in mind the unifying characteristics of the collection, and how to marry that with the unique look of a particular model we’ve chosen. The establishment of a coherent core makes the divergences from that core more interesting!
If you could give yourself any advice on the design process, what would you say to your younger self?
All ideas morph as the process continues, so just commit and execute and see what you get—you can always revise.
What’s your favorite aspect of the design process?
Related to the previous question—seeing how the ultimate look turns out, especially in how it differs from the vision (in a good way). Accessorizing the look—adding details which enrich the overall depiction of a vision is super fun.
All images courtesy of Jillian and Anne.
