From light colors, sparkles and silk to darkness and danger, models represented the tranquility, nightmares and fantasies of REM sleep while walking down a runway in the 23rd annual Threads Fashion Show on April 24.

In a year that has felt like a fever dream, the producers of this year's show chose "Lucid Dreams" as a theme with three different sequences: tranquility, nightmare and fantasy. The virtual format changed things drastically from previous years. The show was a combination of pre-recorded clips and live streaming.

The 16 designers based their collection on one of the three sequences, making their designs and color palettes more connected to the show. The collections were shown off by 28 models.

The three producers sit for live-stream fashion show on April 24 Screenshot of Threads Fashion Show

Threads producers; Roseville senior Jillian Roberts, Grosse Point senior Madison Delas and Bay City senior Ella Weidner said they wanted to connect the audience to the show through the theme.

“I know a lot of people feel like they're dreaming with their eyes open and there's just been so much going on,” Roberts said. “What lucid dreaming really is, is being aware that you're in a dream, having your eyes open in a dream and being able to then control the dream. We really wanted to kind of dive into that and also kind of focus on the REM sleep cycle because we found it interesting."

Starting fresh this year, the three first-year producers said even though they learned a lot from the 2020 team, they had to come up with new processes and techniques because of the COVID-19 health and safety guidlines.

Meetings with designers and models were either one-on-one, in small groups or over Zoom and WebEx. Masks were worn constantly, except when the models were getting their hair and makeup done or walking down the runway. Downsizing meant the number of models participating in the show decreased. This kept the number of people down who would be without a mask at some points during the show.

The producers also said some other challenges they faced had to do with preparation for the show because they didn’t know what the end result was going to look like and how COVID-19 was going to affect the show.

“Preparation was definitely key for us,” Roberts said. “We just tried to roll with the punches but also plan ahead for what could happen.”

Making sure the energy was high in the creation and preparation process was also more difficult.

“We just wanted it to feel like a sense of community and that people were having fun,” Roberts said. “The level of excitement goes down when we can’t really have the energy of hundreds of people all there for the same reason. That was one of our challenges but also something that we are proud of because we were able to have positive memories. It wasn’t all stress, it was pretty seamless and fun.”

Since the show last year was canceled, they had some alumni present their collection as a part of the “Lucid Dreams” collection in this year’s show. Even though she doesn’t live in Mount Pleasant anymore, Brianna Borowiak, a designer from last year, still got to be a part of the show.

“It was hard because I was so excited to actually be accepted into the fashion show,” Borowiak said. “I used to be a model in years before but that was the first year I actually spent time and put effort into a collection that I was proud of. I was really disappointed when it was all canceled.”

Borowiak said instead of fitting the models herself, she dropped off her designs and instructions on the different things she wanted and asked the other team members to fit her models for her.

Aurora Abraham
Sophomore Lauren Bark poses next to her designs April 21 in Wightman Hall Room 122.

Other designers a part of the show this year are excited that the show is actually going on. Macomb sophomore Lauren Bark said that even though she would have rather had the show be in-person, the virtual show is still a good opportunity to showcase everyone’s collections.

“I think at first I was a little bummed, but just knowing all the work that we've done and how cool we've made it, I'm super excited and I think it could be one of the coolest shows that we've ever had,” senior designer Mollie Wiltzius from Gladstone said. “The virtual idea just allows more people from out of the area to be involved too and I think that's a great thing.”