September 22, 2010

The Fashion program welcomed their largest incoming freshmen class ever this week, which includes 16 students in the new Product Design major.  Another new addition to the Fashion program comes in the form of a machine. Professor Genevieve Dion obtained a Westphal synergy grant to collaborate with the Nanotechnology Institute to pursue research on Fashionable Technology. She was able to secure a business deal with Shima Seiki USA, the world leader in “whole garment knitting” – similar to Rapid Prototyping, but in yarn- to continue the research initiative on fashionable technology as it relates to patient safety in hospitals. With the generous support of Shima, the Deans of CHNP (College of Nursing and Health Professionals) and Westphal, and the Office of the Provost, we were able to purchase this equipment. It is an amazing machine and may be seen in action, on the first floor of Nesbitt outside of Ruth Auditorium. In coordination with this research, Dion and student Kristy Jost will be presenting a paper entitled Fabrics Capable of Capacitive Energy Storage at the International Society of Electrochemistry in Nice, France this week.

The 17th Annual Phashion Phest will be held on Tuesday, September 28th at 6 PM and a select number of our students will be participating. Click here for more information on Phashion Phest. On October 7th, fashion students will take part in a Fashion Show and competition in conjunction with Philadelphia Fashion Week showcasing some of the best senior and graduate collections from 2010. Click here for more information about Fashion Week. That same week, from October 8th- 10th, the International, interdisciplinary conference Fashion in Fiction - The Dark Side, will take place here at Westphal. The conference is a collaboration of the Fashion and Design & Merchandising department and The College of Arts & Sciences' Culture and Communications department. Click here for more information on the conference. In November, several students from Professor Michael Glaser’s Special Topics course in Product Design will compete in the 18th-PMA- Collab Student Design Competition dedicated to the design firm of Alberto Alessi. In February, the Fashion program will partner with the Opera Company of Philadelphia in the production of Gounod’s opera Romeo and Juliet. Director Manfred Schweigkofler has conceived a new production that sets the Capulets and Montagues as dueling fashion houses. Our student designs will be included during a fashion show within the Opera.

This Spring, in conjuction with the city-wide Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), an exhibition of garments from the Drexel Historic Costume Collection will be on display in the Pearlstein Gallery. Also, D&M will be hosting Distinguished Speaker Aaron Moss, Director of Brand Marketing and Business Development of Zappos Development, Inc. And, of course, save the date for the Annual Fashion Show on June 4th at the Urban Outfitters Corporate Center at the Naval Yard.