Kent State fashion show dazzles audience

Staff report

KENT

Kent State University’s Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising (the Fashion School) had its annual fashion show earlier this year, dazzling an audience that included Macy’s executives and prominent designers mixed in with students, parents and faculty.

For the first time, the fashion show took place in the Kent State University Museum. The runway snaked through six of the museum’s galleries, and the audience, seated within inches of the models, was treated to an immense richness of detail, privy to the subtleties of garments’ textures, movement and construction.

The show featured the work of 34 student designers who presented a broad spectrum of evening wear, active wear and lingerie.

The show was capped by an awards presentation that included the induction of Tom Cole, former Macy’s chief administrative officer, into the Fashion School Hall of Fame. In receiving this honor, Cole, a Kent State alumnus, joins the ranks of past inductees, such as Estee Lauder, Elsa Klensch, Allen Questrom, Michael Weiss, Ralph Rucci, Oscar de la Renta, Leonardo Ferragamo and Dana Buchman.

“Sitting here today and looking at the designs that walk down this aisle, I continue to be so impressed with what the Fashion School has done,” said Cole, upon accepting his award. “The first person I’m going to call is Allen Questrom, who is a former CEO of Macy’s and will be thrilled to know that I’ve joined him in the Fashion School Hall of Fame at Kent State University.”

The late Margaret Clark Morgan was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Clark and her husband, Burton D. Morgan, were champions of education and the arts and launched scholarship and technology endowments at the Fashion School.