The arts of fashion

A pair of LSU graduates competed in this year’s Art of Fashion, a symposium and competition in San Francisco for 68 promising young designers.

Julie Thibodeaux and Ryan Aldridge beat out more than 300 other applicants from 20 countries to earn their spots.

The nonprofit Arts of Fashion Foundation hosted the five-day workshop and student fashion show competition.

For Thibodeaux the competition capped a six-month whirlwind: She graduated from LSU in apparel design, moved to New York City, interned for Ralph Lauren and constructed her two-piece, Frank Gehry-inspired collection for the competition. For the first time, she experimented with volumizing techniques to imitate the architect’s signature aesthetic. Thibodeaux executed her garments in her apartment-turned-studio. It took her more than 500 hours, and she completed it without the help of her teachers. “It turned out to be a lot more work than when I was in school,” she says. “And again these were by far my most difficult and most ambitious garments that I have ever worked on.”

Aldridge, an apparel design graduate with a masters in costume history, competed against seven other students in the accessories design competition. His surrealist collection and playful take on fashion won him an internship with like-minded accessories designer Natalia Brilli in Paris. Inspired by surrealist photographer and sculptor Hans Bellmer, Aldridge designed two found art pieces, affixing mannequin body parts to vintage bags. “It was a play on the fact that our possessions are like internal organs. They help us survive,” he says. “There were many prototypes. I wanted my designs to be both sculptural and artistic and to be able to stand alone as art pieces.” He plans to take the internship after completing his Ph.D. at LSU.