Marymount University’s Portfolio in Motion

Jhane Barnes to be Honored as Designer of the Year

Marymount University’s annual student fashion show, this year titled Portfolio in Motion Uncut, will feature inspired creations by Marymount fashion design students and alumni. The show will take place on Thursday, May 1, at 8 p.m.; a cocktail reception precedes it, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Both events will be held in the Rose Benté Lee Center on the University’s Main Campus, 2807 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA.

Marymount’s fashion programs are unique in the Washington D.C. region and well recognized within the industry and by the public. Fashion merchandising majors will produce a show that celebrates the modern woman and man; they know what they want and go after it with a no-frills attitude. The runway, lights, and music will create a clean, minimalist, cutting-edge environment that is inspired by industrial art. The featured garments by fashion design students and alumni will encompass all the interconnecting angles of modern life – running the gamut from eveningwear, to casual, to game-day attire. Portfolio in Motion Uncut is a student endeavor from beginning to end; the jury-selected designs will also be modeled by Marymount students.

Mirroring the stereotype-smashing interests of today’s woman, the show will include a line of fashion-forward Washington Redskins apparel, created for the growing legions of women football fans.  The result of a product development class, some of the garments are for the 18-34 market, while others target the 34+ demographic. The students presented their lines, as well as production and marketing plans for this niche market, to a panel of experts that included Redskins marketing staff.
This year’s show will also feature lines by each of the graduating seniors and designs made from fabrics donated by Eileen Fisher, Marymount’s 2012 Designer of the Year.

JHANE BARNES TO BE HONORED AS DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

As always one of the highlights of the show will be the presentation of the Designer of the Year Award, which this year goes to Jhane Barnes. Barnes first became known for her creative menswear, which featured unusual details and silhouettes, as well as unique fabrics. In 1980, at the age of 25, she was the youngest person and the first woman to win the prestigious Coty American Fashion Critics Award for Menswear. Among her earliest customers were John Lennon, Paul Simon, Elton John, Robin Williams, John Travolta, Jack Nicholson, and Danny Glover. Over the years, Ms. Barnes has expanded her design work — using math, especially fractals, to create textiles and patterns for fashion, eyewear, furniture, and, flooring.

Tickets for the May 1 reception and show, at which Jhane Barnes will be honored, are $100.

For press inquiries, contact Laurie Callahan at laurie.callahan@marymount.edu, 703-284-1648 (o); 703-927-4003 (c).