Now in its 19th edition, the international competition Arts of Fashion in San Francisco brought together projects by students belonging to specialized faculties from all over the world who responded to the challenge of this year's theme: Invisibility. Among the 50 selected finalist projects is also that of Mihaela Vișovan, coordinated by university associate. Dr. Andreea Palade Flondor and assistant. assoc. Dr. Andreea Pleșa. This confirms the quality of the university fashion education in Timișoara, whose students are often among the first places at national and international level.
In the context of the current exceptional situation, the first stage of the judging took place in June at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris bringing together a jury of French experts in the fashion industry composed of fashion illustrators, curators and fashion designers with the mission of selecting 50 young creatives from the 397 submitted portfolios belonging to students from 103 faculties and 30 countries. For this reason qualifying in the final stage of the competition is a performance in itself.
Mihaela is a student in her final year of undergraduate studies at the University of West Timișoara, Faculty of Arts and Design, Fashion-Clothing Design study program and a scholarship holder of the Royal Margaret Foundation of Romania through the program Young Talents. Through Mihaela Vișovan's project, the Western University of Timișoara is among the 34 universities with qualified projects in the final stage.
The human interior hidden from view by the multiple layers that each of us displays is the way Mihaela Vișovan approached the theme of design. The project relates to the difference between the intimate structure invisible to others, protected by multiple layers and screens, as the cocoon protects the butterfly. The contrast between the visible and the invisible world between the deep nature of man and social conformity turns into the theme of creation. Being in a position to capture this double reality, the project wants to bring to light the invisible by giving authenticity a chance against templates and social mimicry. The deconstructed masculine jacket, floral elements and rich details are the design elements through which these thoughts become clothes.
While waiting for the textile materialization of the project imagined by Mihaela Vișovan, we wish her success in the 2nd stage of the competition, which involves participating with two outfits from this collection in a fashion show whose form will certainly be reinvented.
Univ. Assoc. Dr. Andreea Palade Flondor
