VIPs and international press descend on Savannah for SCAD graduate show

SCAD Fashion 2024 presented runway collections by its senior and graduate students on the runway at SCAD Museum of Art on Friday, May 17. The show followed the presentation of the coveted André Leon Talley Award to Brother Vellies founder, vice-chair of CFDA, activist founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge and author, Aurora James, who appeared on stage wearing a dress by SCAD alum, Class of 2016, Christopher John Rogers.

The front row included talk show host, Kelly Ripa; actress Rainey Qualley; Senior Editorial Director, Neiman Marcus, Bruce Pask; and a healthy press presence including Robin Mellory-Pratt, Business of Fashion; Virginia Smith, Vogue; and Justin Moran, Paper magazine. Acclaimed model Coco Rocha closed the show wearing a sweeping black and white ensemble by student Andrea Rios after having offered catwalking tips to the student models.

Despite its location far from US fashion’s hubs, Savannah College of Art and Design manages to compete admirably with the top NYC schools and boasts a network of high-profile connections to which its students have regular access. It attracts faculty from across the globe and even the jury that selected the runway looks from 60 of this year’s graduating designers was comprised of designers Anna Sui and Italo Zuccheli, influential New York publicist Gia Kuan, and an assortment of luminaries from WWD, Elle, Ssense, Vanity Fair, and Harper's Bazaar.

As for the en plein air runway show, it offered an opportunity to spot a rare trend: A smiling front row. The feel-good vibe was only heightened by the threat of a rainstorm, the whoops and cheers from faculty scattered throughout the audience and the students backstage loudly supporting their peers. Defying darkening skies, the message from these graduates was one of bright futures.

Menswear proved particularly appealing and designers Ben Callaghan and Max Lieberman subverted the conservatism of plaids and tartans with palette and styling choices, the former mixing floor grazing skirts with sports socks and blazers, the latter splicing punk green with black, and overlaying prints like graffiti on a city wall.

Marky Bergeron created blinged out lampshade hats and fleur-de-lis emblazoned pants in heraldic ruby and gold that seemed to marry streetwear with the court of Henry VIII. Chuck Ryan employed decorative stitching, airbrushed seams and grid-like prints to great effect, effortlessly attaching a bucket hat to a cargo pant, and decorating a jacket with a trompe-l’oeil backpack.

A source of pride for SCAD is its prize-winning equestrian team, and Bradley Shepherd’s horse riding-inspired collection of tweedy wools, belted leathers, and buckled capes in navy and brown punctuated with a crisp voluminous skirt bearing a cantering horse exuded elegance. Ellie Byrd demonstrated a controlled charm presenting playfully accessorized gingham in new proportions while Ana Achurra proposed tulip silhouettes, cute sheep’s head motifs and vibrant graphics patterns. Inflatables abounded in dreamy swirling pastels from Rakee Chen; in hazard brights with tech detailing at Eileen Barry; in Christmas cracker shades at Jiyoung Park; and worn with hoods and oversized denim at Earl Godfrey.

SCAD’s strong Fibers program produced a trove of exciting knitwear designers including Gabby Hinz who showed women’s and childrenswear while Yutong Zhao’s cage-like structures of woven bamboo and capes that cocooned the body were a gentle revelation.