California Apparel News

Los Angeles Trade-Technical College hosted the fall 2023 Gold Thimble Fashion Show Dec. 8 at its campus in downtown Los Angeles, where 16 graduating student designers from the Design & Media Arts program showcased their work. The designers created pieces reflecting eight apparel categories, which included the show’s theme, in addition to swimwear, childrenswear, athleisure, menswear, avant-garde, gender neutral and evening.

“The theme for this semester’s students was ‘Immortal Fashionistas,’ which was a tribute to acclaimed fashion designers from the past,” said Joe Guerrieri, chair of the design and media-arts pathway. “The students embraced the challenge of recreating these complicated garments and produced some outstanding work.”

“Immortal Fashionistas” honored some of the most groundbreaking designers of the last 10 years. These venerable artists and change makers included Virgil Abloh, Azzedine Alaïa, Max Azria, Alber Elbaz, Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori, Thierry Mugler, Takeshi Osumi, Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant, Kenzo Takada, Isabel Toledo, Gloria Vanderbilt and Vivienne Westwood.

Winning collections that reflected the theme were designed by Andrew Jesse Avila in first place; Diana Ponce in second; and Alondra Gomez in third. Andrew Jesse Avila placed first in the athleisurewear category followed by Kayla Blackmon in second and Diana Ponce in third. Katherine Veronica Antoniazzi secured first place in swimwear, David Gordian won second and Emily Cordero placed third.

The winners of the avant-garde category included Marvin Said Rodriguez Lujano in first place, Kiah Hanssen-Kilpatrick in second and Lesley Evangelista in third. Kayla Blackmon’s designs placed first in the gender-neutral category, while Scarlet Miranda secured second place and Ryan Scott Debonville won third place. In the menswear category, Kiah Hanssen-Kilpatrick placed first, Marvin Said Rodriguez Lujano won second and Allyn Romero secured third. Diana Ponce placed first in the eveningwear category, while Alondra Gomez secured second and Allyn Romero won third. The childrenswear category’s first-place winner was David Gordian, Diana Ponce placed second and Katherine Veronica Antoniazzi secured third.