It’s the morning of Friday, May 21 and the BHS fashion design class is busy setting up their runway in the Astro Park and doing final model fittings for the 2021 fashion show. Instead of the usual Performing Art Center runway, models are strutting amongst the columns and statues to show off this year’s designs.

The show is online this year. The class is filming it over two days, and they will release it to the community once it is completed. It will also showcase some of the fabrics the students have designed throughout the school year. Senior Grace Cooney said the fashion show should be released sometime the first week of June. 

Cooney has several models wearing her designs, and she will have around 40 pieces in the show. “I will be modeling about 12 of my designs too,” she said. 

Cooney is most excited for her senior line part of the show which is her 1920s collection and all of her designs will be presented together as one collection. 

The fashion design students have also begun selling their various fabrics on Spoonflower. The BHS Spoonflower storefront launched on March 1. 

“The models will be wearing the fabrics being sold, but not every student made clothes out of their fabric yet though,” said Cooney. 

According to its website, Spoonflower is a global marketplace uniting makers and consumers with designers worldwide. They are transforming the textile industry through on-demand digital printing technology and eco-friendly, sustainable, and scalable manufacturing methods.

Fashion design teacher Aimee Butterfield said they began the textile design unit in December when the whole school was fully remote.

“It was an opportunity to learn about a part of the industry and create work without the need for a sewing machine,” said Butterfield. 

This was the first year the fashion design class designed fabric patterns. The class used Spoonflower as a resource to research design trends in fabric design. 

“I didn’t realize at first that it was possible to start a storefront, and once I noticed that I figured, why not? Something cool and different to try this year,” said Butterfield. 

Cooney designed the Gemini fabric. “It was a silhouette of the Gemini twin line art that’s really popular, but I used me and my twin’s silhouettes to create it,” said Cooney.  

The prices of the fabrics vary. Butterfield said since it is ‘print on demand’, the prices are higher than the standard cost you might find at Joann Fabrics. It also depends on the type of fabric buyers choose. They range from $18.50 – $59.00 per yard. 

Spoonflower offers a lot of coupons and discounts. Fabric can be purchased by the yard or in ‘fat quarters’, which are quarter yards used for quilting. 

Spoonflower also offers the option to print the design on sheets, napkins, curtains, blankets, bedding, and wallpaper. 

There are a couple of recycled fabric options and a couple of organic fabric options available.