Education is in fashion: Students staging show Saturday

By CAYLEN GARIBAY 
The Tower

Manteca High

This Saturday, Manteca High will host the Manteca Unified School District CTE Fashion Show, where Angie Anaya’s fashion art students are challenged to build a masterpiece for all to see.  

Using their skills and unique collaboration with all of the schools in the district, these artists will showcase their abilities in an amazing show at the new MHS gym. 

The show begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $5.

The annual Fashion Show is being managed by Anaya, a longtime fashion and design teacher in the district. She’s been tasked with overseeing a production that draws tale from all corners of the MUSD map, contributions from clothing stores in the business sector, and inspiration from the world of fashion.

Fashion art students have worked on unique and mind-blowing pieces. Some designs have themes such as denim, which utilizes material repurposed from old jeans. These recycled materials are transformed into outfits that spark with imagination and creativity.

There is also a themed design made entirely of recycled thrift shop products. Using a max of $40, students combed the racks of a thrift store, looking for pieces to create an eye-catching new design. This theme, Anaya said, added a new challenge to this year’s show. 

While Saturday’s event will be a showcase for each model that graces the runway and for the designer whose threads they’re wearing, behind the scenes, the fashion show is a collaboration between multiple school sites, organizations and groups, and local businesses, all coordinated by Anaya and her students.

Anaya said there are committees working on different parts of the show. There is a promotion committee, design committee, and the model committee. These committees form the crew of the fashion show, and they have all worked together to create Saturday’s show. 

Artists and models have come from all schools in the district. Certain retailers also collaborate with the artists to help them make their creations. These schools and retailers include: Old Navy, Target, Tillys, Manteca High, Calla High, East Union High, Lathrop High, and New Vision High. 

The entire purpose of this show is not only to present a challenge to the students and artists involved, but to underscore the importance of collaboration and creativity.

“It’s a really kind of cool way to be able to collaborate and connect and work with peers, but also the community,” Anaya said.

Student Olivia Mulzet has been influenced by the fashion show’s creative and mental challenges. 

“To go more outside, like of my comfort zone, because I’m more of like a closed person,” she said of the show’s impact on her.

This fashion show provides a platform for students to show what they can do with their first few steps into the world of fashion, and it gives a bit of pressure to ensure their work is not just good but amazing. 

This pressure tests the students’ abilities to create a specific type of art. For some, the show helps build skills that may become useful down the road as they explore a career in fashion. This form of skill building is intentional, Anaya said. 

“The students have to work on a project that’s a big project where they will gain multiple skills in the world of fashion,” Anaya said.