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Lights, camera, fashion! CSULB’s Campus Couture saves a student a slot in LA Fashion Week

With more than 800 people in attendance, Jacyln Mach had all eyes on her as she won “Best Collection” at the 27th annual Campus Couture.

The fashion department’s student-run fashion show took place on Friday at California State University, Long Beach’s Carpenter Center.

“I’ve been preparing for a long time,” Mach, a senior fashion design major at CSULB, said. “When I thought about my collection, the first thing I thought about was using my fashion as communication and designing with a purpose; that was important to me.”

Simplistic yet edgy, Mach’s “Armored” collection won her a spot in the Art Hearts Fashion show during Los Angeles Fashion Week in October. Her pieces were inspired by the hatred of seeing those close to here in pain as well as the embodiment of the quote, “In weakness, you are made strong.”

“People would come to me and consult me,” Mach said. “The only thing they always admit is ‘I don’t know why I’m feeling this way.” There’s a lot of shame in feeling weak. I made clothes inspired by armor to help empower people and encourage them that it’s okay to feel this way.”

Spectator and local resident of San Diego, Denisha Gilbert talked about how “grand” the fashion show was from the audiences’ perspective as well as the surplus of press who gave all sorts of attention to the student designers.

Jasmin Garcia, a senior fashion merchandising major and coordinator of 2016’s Campus Couture, noted that the year-long process challenges the participants to go beyond their comfort zone.

“First they’re projects and then they’re shown. If [the designers] didn’t get a good grade or didn’t turn it in, then it can’t be shown,” Garcia said. “They have to be students first before they can be designers.”

The panel of judges was comprised of Charlene Pack, a merchandise design director for Dolls Kill, Sarah and Erin Whitaker of Parker Whitaker Production and CSULB alumni Walter Mendez of the Walter Collection.

“It’s important we bring judges here that are willing to give gifts, such as showing at LA fashion week,” Garcia said. “It’s like a foot in the door– no, basically IN [the fashion industry] after something like that.”

In order to convey her theme of armor, Mach utilized materials easy to replicate the metal-bodice structures.

“For example, the corset piece was not simply a corset. I had placed a haltered piece over the chest area and used piping to create style lines,” Mach said. “[This] helps create structure in something that is soft in design and shields the body.”

Mach’s mother passed on the needle and thread to her daughter in high school. Mach designed her own prom dress, which she claimed was a “disaster” but a lesson well learned.

Mach has worked for a variety of different companies such as Elev8, Kellwood, Vivan Chan, BCBG. She’s a part-time design assistant at Woodruff Apparel, an online women’s clothing store, and helping a friend launch Braver, an active sportswear brand.

“Up until now, I thought I was going to work quietly in a corporate office job,” Mach said. “But now this changes a lot.”

Updated on May 14, 2015.

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