Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Shirley Dai, 14, of Oakland auditions in front of fashion design students at West Valley College in Saratoga. She hopes to be among the models in the annual spring fashion show put on by the college's Fashion Design and Apparel Technology Program.
Fashion students show wares at college May 11
By Shari Kaplan
With a new millennium come many changes, not the least of which are those in the fashion world. Proving their fingers ever on the pulse of stylish trends both classic and modern, the students enrolled in West Valley College's Fashion Design and Apparel Technology Program are putting on their 17th annual fashion show on May 11, in the campus theater, 14000 Fruitvale Ave. in Saratoga.
This year the show is offered twice: first at 3 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. An optional champagne reception, with catering provided by students enrolled in the Mission College hospitality management program, takes place at 6 p.m. Mission College in Santa Clara belongs to the same community college district as West Valley.
Every show features a guest of honor from the fashion industry; this year it is Leona Guidace, designer for the De Cre clothing line. Short for di creare, which means "to create" in Italian, De Cre is headquartered in San Jose and runs a retail store and workshop in the Willow Glen area.
"West Valley has referred such talented, professional fashion students to De Cre that we want to give something back to the college," says Guidace, whose company's designs will be featured on the show's runway models, along with many student-made designs.
"Retail is a tough business, and we feel the way to succeed is to make the product stand out from the competition," she adds, for the aspiring designers of tomorrow. Guidace knows of what she speaks, having had her clothing designs worn by actresses Sarah Jessica Parker, Raquel Welch, Heather Locklear and Demi Moore.
Students enrolled in West Valley College's Fashion Design and Apparel Technology Program use a fully equipped lab--including specialized computer programs--that gives them the same hands-on experience they would have out in the industry. The program offers A.S. degrees in apparel production and apparel design, as well as certificates in electronic manufacturing and surface design.
Tickets are $50 for the show and champagne reception or $15 for the show alone. All proceeds benefit the college's Fashion Design and Technology Fund. For more information, call 408.741.4015, or visit www.westvalley.edu/wvc/fd on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
