Bonjour to French fashion
French Club took a deeper look into famous French designers and put on a fashion show
As she gets wrapped in tissues junior Skylar Ostronic models a Hubert de Givenchy inspired look created by her partner junior Kali Oleson. On Monday, Jan. 24 French Club held a fashion show to learn more about French designers and the fashion culture in France. “I think at the fashion show we demonstrated French culture by showing off some of the best looks of the best designers in the world,” Ostronic said. “France is home to many of the most well-known designers whose influences are still present in the world of fashion today.”
February 4, 2022
Se pavaner, poser, afficher et modeler (strutting, posing, flaunting and modeling), the French club held a fashion show on Monday, Jan. 24 to further their knowledge in French fashion history in an interactive way.
The French Club meets every Monday where they learn about French culture and history in an environment un-restricted by grades. At this meeting the members were given a list of French designers they got to choose from. Then they recreated one of their famous designs. The members were given about 20 minutes to find anything around the school that would help complete their design, such as paper, beads and coats. French teacher Sarah Karst came up with this idea with the help of the co-presidents juniors Kali Oleson and Skylar Ostronic, but she kept the idea a surprise for the other members.
“The fashion show idea has been something I’ve actually wanted to do for years, just kind of floating around in my brain, but I was never sure if I’d be able to get my students into it,” Karst said. “Luckily, it went really well so I know in the future we can use it during class. I wanted them to have fun with it and learn a little bit about designers and at least one of their iconic looks.”
Trying to capture French culture in its beauty, Oleson and Ostornic found a list of the most popular designers such as Coco Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Christian Dior and many more that the members could choose from to represent.
“When I heard about the fashion show idea I was super excited because it sounded like a super fun and creative idea that hopefully people will remember partaking in and enjoying for a long time,” Oleson said. “I liked seeing how creative people were able to get with the items like beads and tissues that they could find in the short time they had. It was interesting and funny to see what people thought of and were able to make work.”
After the members prepared their designs they walked down the “runway”. Which was set up in the Green Mile hallway where the German Club members were the audience and the judges. German teacher Wendy Langer was one of the judges and audience members of the show and thought it would be a good idea for her German Club members to see and experience what other cultures value.
“I stopped in to see the creation process, and it was fun to see the students having so much fun recreating the looks,” Langer said. “I thought it was a fun idea, and it’s great exposure to different fashion designers which helps us see that other countries place value on different things than we do.”
As the models walked down the runway, Oleson announced the designer and who was wearing the design. After all of the models had walked down the runway they all came back out and struck a pose. The judges were given a few minutes to complete a Google form to fill out their favorite design. The most liked design was by freshmen Abigail Baker and Connor Laffey. Laffey was the model and was wearing a Christian Lacroix inspired look where he had a big yellow hat and a blue blanket wrapped around him.
Every week at French Club brings a new activity that can benefit the members in a non-stressful environment where they can expand their horizons on French culture.
