PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Tampa high school students will be walking the runway on Thursday, as they show off outfits they designed themselves. The inspiration for that fashion, is Salvador Dali.
Winding up the stairs onto the second floor of The Dali Museum, these students have come full circle. For the past 12 weeks, they have been designing clothes inspired by some of Dali’s most iconic work.
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“First saw the painting, and the first thing I noticed was the colors, I really liked the yellow and green,” said student Connor Totten, who has worked the color scheme of one painting into a dress.
The class is called Fashion Design at The Dali. It’s free to high school students with aspirations of a career dressing models.
This year, 28 young fashionistas participated.
“It’s incredibly exhilarating to watch these kids go from a concept on paper to seeing it come to life,” said school program manager Denisse De Leon.
The students are encouraged to think outside the box, in many cases using recycled materials.
“All the jeans I found at thrift stores, probably five or six pairs of jeans, chopped them up, patched them together, to make a sheet of fabric,” said student Eli Urich.
These students say one of the biggest surprises is the amount of time it takes to make just one dress.
“The hand sewing is what really drove me insane, hours and hours and days,” said Brielle Hernandez.
Now that they put the finishing touches on the ruffles, buttons and bows, these students will be showing them off. They will be walking the runway at a fundraiser for the class Thursday night at Nieman Marcus.
“I felt really proud because making it piece by piece, you don’t realize how the final thing is going to look good. When you finally put it on it’s like an accomplishment, you’re finally done, it looks good, your hard work paid off,” said student Joy Chen.
For more information on Fashion Design at The Dali, click here.
