The Show Never Stopped: Art2Wear Lives on in Virtual Museum

It’s not just any grand opening.

Twenty years after the first Art2Wear show took place at the College of Design, this year’s program now has a permanent showcase that you can explore from anywhere. Take a look:

Navigating the space is made easy through using the W, A, S and D keys to move between rooms. Users can also look around and interact with elements such as videos and designer profiles with their mouse.

Developed by RJ Washington, a Junior in Art + Design, the exhibit is meant to be a permanent home for the Art2Wear 2021 collections. With the show’s theme titled Advance, the Art2Wear team was hoping to drive home the idea that the program is moving into new territory.

“When [co-director of Art2Wear] Tess Colavecchio and I were deciding on the theme of Advance, we really wanted to honor the last 20 years of Art2Wear,” says co-director Tess Wiegmann. “We wanted to move forward and reimagine where we’re going to go with Art2Wear in the future.”

Unlike previous shows, this year’s virtual format showcases more than what audience members usually see on the runway. While many A2W attendees miss the in-person experience of shows past, they are now able to get an in-depth look at each designer’s process, story and inspiration behind their collections. Plus, designers were able to utilize new environments outside of the college for their video segments – adding to the unique and powerful fashion experience.

In case you missed it:

Originally starting as a small, boutique exhibition within the college, Art2Wear has become the largest student-run fashion show in the Southeast. Since it began in 2001, the show has racked up 313 participants, 265,762 hours of studio time and has used 4,815 yards of fabric.

Learn more about the designers in the 2021 A2W digital program booklet.

This post was originally published in College of Design Blog.