Kendall fashion students’ work on display alongside Alexander McQueen pieces

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The work of Kendall College of Art fashion students is now on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, alongside the work of influential designer Lee Alexander McQueen.

The ‘Lee Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous’ exhibition opened at the museum earlier this month . It includes more than 50 pieces from the British designer, along with nearly 70 pieces from French photographer and his good friend Ann Ray.

A McQueen-inspired collection from students in an innovative techniques class at the Pamela Roland DeVos School of Fashion at Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University is now on display at the GRAM.

Students in the class, which focuses on combining couture sewing techniques with innovative new technology, picked a collection from McQueen to draw inspiration from.

“McQueen is so inspirational,” professor Lori Faulkner, the school’s fashion studies chair, said. “He had so many collections from very different eras and very different themes, so the students could look at all of these and decide which one was most intriguing to them, and then combine it with what they like to do or with their own original ideas.”

Student Sarah Kuhnert said she was excited when she heard the class would be doing pieces inspired by McQueen.

“He is by far my favorite designer ever,” she said. “Very intimidating that it’s going to be inspired by him, as well as being put in the museum.”

She took inspiration from his 2005 spring collection, ‘It’s Only a Game.’

“He uses a lot of really innovative fabrics like horse hair, leather and he’s got some pastel colors in there as well, which I brought into my design because I really like working with color,” she said.

She also used unique materials, like mesh screening and leather.

Student Grace Anderson said she was inspired by McQueen’s historical and religious references, and the “subtle drama” often found in his pieces. She created a piece focused on a cape, which has a laser-engraved star Anderson created using the Kendall FLEXlab.

Other students focused on the silhouettes found in McQueen’s work, like Reese Westmaas, who worked to create a piece with a big silhouette, and Zayne Cutrara, who was inspired by a belt dress from McQueen.

Two of Cutrara’s pieces are included in the collection, include a plaid dress inspired by the McQueen silhouette. Cutrara learned leather working techniques specifically for the piece, did hand embroidery and used the school’s flex lab to laser-cut plastic faces.

Liliana Castro was inspired by a McQueen collection that included lots of red and blacks, with a dark and grungy energy.

“It is a huge honor, but very intimidating,” Castro said. “This is something that I dreamed about as a kid, so to be able to do this, it’s incredible.”

Her excitement was echoed by the other students.

“It’s such a big honor,” Anderson said. “I never thought my pieces would be next to such a big designer like McQueen, especially in my local art museum, which means so much because I’ve been going here since I was a kid.”

McQueen was known for his expert tailoring and his skilled craftsmanship, GRAM associate curator Terra Warren said. She said his work is connected to the GRAM’s collaboration with the fashion students.

“The program at KCAD is extraordinary and it creates some exceptional designers and students who have a really incredible understanding of the textiles,” she said. “We’re thrilled to have these works in our building. Alexander McQueen is a world renowned brand and a world renowned designer, but we have some extraordinary talent here in our own community. These garments are so exceptional and so beautiful and so well made — and they are made by Grand Rapidians. And that’s really exciting.”

The student’s collection will be on display alongside the work of McQueen until Jan. 12. Kendall students can get in to the museum for free.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.