1) Describe your final project/studies. What have you accomplished over the course of the semester?

In a lot of ways I feel that I’ve accomplished more in the past five months than I’ve been able to do my entire time in graduate school. The reason for this sudden influx in productivity? I stopped working for other people and really focused on what I wanted to do, and did it. My final project is my thesis exhibition, Horse Power. It is a multifaceted project that involved creating a collection of 22 garments, two leathers bags, two pairs of socks and one hat, for a total of nine complete looks. I directed a photo shoot that has been featured on thefashionisto.com, directed and produced 9 and a half minute video installation using two large scale projected videos running in sync, choreographed a live fashion show with a live music by a beat boxer, produced a 24 page look book, created a website, created a gallery installation with a 24′ reclaimed barn board wall. That on top of collaborating with Hybrid Salon on a costume for the Hair Affair fund raiser at MMoCA in late April, participating in the Graduate Student Showcase in the Ruth Davis Design Gallery, and helping to produce the 2015 Threads Fashion Show: PULSE.  I’ve done a lot.

2) Describe your overall feelings about the project/studies. Are you happy, content, frustrated, etc with the results?

It’s pretty safe to say that my hard work has paid off, or at least “is paying off”.  I’ve received tons of positive feedback on both the gallery installation and the live show. I’ve been featured in articles in both the

Cap Times PULSE

and thefashionisto.com Cory Allen goes Equestrian

I have lots of new contacts in the fashion industry from people who came up to talk to me after each show. I’m looking forward to talking with investors next week to see how I can continue to work on my brand and make Cory Allen a real name in the world!

3) What were some of the largest hurdles you encountered over the semester and how did you approach these challenges.

There were hurdles to jump at every turn, basically, but they never seemed insurmountable. One of the biggest challenges with the collection itself was the production of the two leather bags. I was working with a woman in Mineral Point who runs a saddle shop there. I didn’t do enough research on her work, and she ended up nearly destroying the bags, which are both made of Horween Leather, and horse tack. Luckily, after I got them back I found John and Kelly Fallon, through my shoe repair guy, and they were able to cut them apart and remake them. The final product is not a showroom sample, but they are much closer to what I designed. The big learning moment here was how to communicate and keep tabs on the manufacturing of your products. I trusted the saddle shop too much, and it almost cost me about $600.00 worth of leather. The great thing that came out of it was meeting Kelly and John. Now I know who to work with, and even have a list of manufacturers if I put the bags into production. I’m hoping to work on new prototypes with them this summer.

Technology is always a hurdle for me. I worked with video producer Aaron Granat, and while he does really nice work, it was very frustrating waiting for the videos to be done, we were way behind schedule, and there are definitely things that I would change if I could. Overall I think they turned out AMAZING. After my initial idea of four projections in the space-creating an imax experience- was found to be impossible, I decided to use only two projections, and the results are really beautiful. I think the video still creates the sense of atmosphere I wanted. Re-working my original idea for the video for two screens actually made the final film much more interesting, in my opinion. I kept the night arena scene, and it is breathtaking, but I also added a sort of “campaign video” and a fashion show video through the barn. With a little clever editing the fashion show walks right through the gallery, and I’ve really enjoyed seeing people experience that.

I also was going to work with a composer in the school of music on an original score, but that fell through, so I ended up finding music for each set of the video. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to use the video in the future, because I don’t own the rights to those songs.

The other challenge was trying to balance the creation of Horse Power with my other duties as TA, and the shows and collaborations I did in addition to this project. I didn’t sleep much, but I’m really excited about a future where all I have to do is work on my own thing, and not feel torn about that.

4) If you had more time, what would you do next on your project/studies?

This is one of the rare occurrences where I actually met and/or exceeded all my initial goals. The things I’m still working on now that the shows are over, are developing my website, creating line sheets and tech packs for all the garments and accessories, and marketing this collection and my brand out in the world. I’m riding a lot of momentum from the show, but I know that I need to follow up with all these new contacts, and keep this train rolling!