Center City District's Design Challenge

Fashion Design student Donte Livingston turned to flamenco and the ruffles of salsa movement




Fashion Design students in Karen Karuza’s Special Topics in Fashion Design (FD30912) class have started Spring Quarter 2010 by making dresses out of the 4’ x 9’ banners that once hung from light poles near the Walnut Street Theatre to publicize their production of “Oliver!”

Kelly Farrelly, manager of the Center City District’s banner program, had arranged for the students to receive the fabric banners and visited the class on April 29 to see what the students had been able to create only three weeks after having been presented with the project.

“They’re all wearable,” Karen Karuza said of the students’ designs, which were crafted entirely from the banner fabrics, often even incorporating the d-rings used to attach the banners to the light poles.

The students came up with very creative designs inspired by musical genres such as rock, blues, salsa and reggae.