Morpheus and Metamorphosis fashion show to highlight unique collections from student designers

<p>The Ball State University Fashion Program's spring fashion show, Morpheus and Metamorphosis, is April 22 at 1 p.m. in the Alumni Center. <strong>All Events, Photo Courtesy</strong></p>

The Ball State University Fashion Program's spring fashion show, Morpheus and Metamorphosis, is April 22 at 1 p.m. in the Alumni Center. All Events, Photo Courtesy

Tickets for the show are available for presale online for $8 or for $10 at the door.

All of the proceeds from the show’s tickets will go toward Little Red Door, a nonprofit that helps those who are affected by cancer based in Muncie.

At 1 p.m. Sunday in the Ball State Alumni Center, student apparel designers will showcase their work through the Morpheus and Metamorphosis fashion show. 

The show will provide students in the fashion promotions class, an upper-level course that teaches promotional strategies, the opportunity to apply skills they have learned this semester to the real world. 

This semester, the show will feature the works of more than six fashion designers and display a range of styles varying from one designer’s signature outfits aimed towards Midwestern middle-aged women to another designer’s theatrical look inspired by the galaxy. 

Junior Levi Portillo, apparel design and fashion merchandising major, is one of the designers showcased in the event, and said he is looking forward to the show because the audience will be able to see student designers’ personal points of view on fashion. 

“They should come to Morpheus and Metamorphosis so they can see how incredibly different minds all began in a different location, they came to one place and they are now transforming into these wonderful professionals,” Portillo said. “On stage, they [the designers] are speaking to you about what they think is beautiful.”

Portillo said he has been “artistically-inclined” since childhood, but it wasn’t until high school that Portillo knew that fashion was the form of art that best suited him. Portillo said he found that society communicates through fashion. 

“Being an awkward, gay, Latino boy in public school ... I felt that clothing was incredibly influential to society as an art form.” Portillo said. “That slowly inspired me to look into the fashion industry.” 

For Morpheus and Metamorphosis, Portillo and his fellow designers will showcase a mini collection of three looks. 

While other designers will present their recent creations, Portillo is including a piece from one of his first classes at Ball State in his collection, and said his personal style and aesthetic will stand out in the collection he has chosen.  

“I love things to just be strange and obscure,” Portillo said. “Instead of making a woman look good, I want her to look again.”

Portillo said his designs are busy because he frequently fuses different patterns and textures together, and he always includes something colorful in his pieces. 

“I love putting tons of things on things on things,” Portillo said. “I’m tempted to mix textures. A lot of people find it hard to understand, but they appreciate it when they see it.”

The marketing team for the show created this semester’s theme drawing inspiration from the idea of transforming dreams into reality as Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams and metamorphosis symbolizes the transformation. 

According to Portillo, the class wanted to create a theme that would encompass the design style of every student, which allowed more freedom for the designers to be creative; although, Portillo never saw the theme as a restriction.

“I love grabbing a theme and seeing how I can work it.” Portillo said. 

Like Portillo, Charity Roberson, senior merchandising major and a coordinator for the show, said her dream of working in a fashion profession began after working in a clothing retailer in high school. 

“I’ve always loved working with clothes, not necessarily in retail, but the sense of the clothes themselves, and their style and where they come from,” Roberson said. 

For her, the show’s purpose extends farther than just letting audience members see new trends on the runway. 

“[Fashion Shows] are not only entertainment,” Roberson said.  “They also allow you to open your eyes to other creative things that people can come up with.” 

Additionally, Roberson hopes this semester’s show brings more awareness to Ball State’s fashion program, while also working to dissuade any misconceptions surrounding what it means to be a fashion major.

“[Audiences] can see what their fellow Ball State students are doing,” Roberson said. “It can open their eyes to what we do. Not only are we studying clothes, but we are learning how to create and make fashion happen.” 

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