a Blithe Fashion Spirit Takes Prague
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raduate design student Christin Schifano will attend the 2011 Prague Quadrennial, an international design competition in April, according to University of Chicago professor Tom Burch. Burch is the mentor and coordinator for the EMERGE exhibition slated during the June 2011 event in Prague. “The Student Exhibit Committee received over 450 submissions from nearly 400 students representing over 70 American colleges and universities—the largest submission pool the student exhibit has ever had,” says Burch. Schifano was chosen among the hundreds of works submitted for the Quadrennial event. Schifano received a BSFCS in fashion merchandising at UGA in 2005. She will complete her MFA in theatrical design in May 2011. With the metaphoric surname Schifano, the up-and-coming costume designer’s name seems destined to be on the lips of the design world. Schifano herself is pulling from many streams for influences for her work. She plucks
garments from vintage racks, and channels the influences of Dior, Erte and Chanel. She says she has a particular penchant for the colors purple and red. More importantly, she has a dream that unfolds next year at the international “Olympics” of design. Graduate School Magazine: Describe the Prague Quadrennial and the EMERGE design competition—what are they, and why were winners announced a year ahead? Schifano: It’s like the Olympics, in that they plan so far ahead. It takes place every four years. It’s an international design exhibit and we have something similar in the US—they look at new methods in construction and design. This is the larger field, with an international audience. My professors encourage us to always apply for these competitions. When applying, I honestly didn’t think too much about it—it was during finals. My major professor, Ivan Ingermann,
BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS BY NANCY EVELYN
looked at my portfolio, and he helped me choose. The exhibition is June 16-26, 2011 in Prague. There’s going to be a design competition (EMERGE) I’ll compete in, too. While my work is on display the people who are being exhibited will be given a script and given an hour to come up with a concept—and we would then do a rendering. Graduate School Magazine: Is rendering one of your strengths? Schifano: Yes. I work in watercolors, gouache, and ink. I also do a lot of artwork outside of that, too. I was in fashion, with an undergrad degree in fashion merchandising from the University in 2005. With this, I sort of stumbled into it; I moved to LA after my bachelor’s degree. I wasn’t quite ready for a move that financially big…I ended up moving back home and looking at programs. I found theatrical design; I had taken electives in this program and enjoyed it. I thought why not
Christin Schifano’s signature on her emails is the following quote from inspiration Coco Chanel:
“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” UGA Graduate School Magazine S U M M E R 2 0 1 0
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