Student Design Spotlight — Holly Meyers

By KAITLYN TIFFANY 

Photo Courtesy of Kelly Yang/ Sun News Photography Editor

Holly Meyers ’14, will debut a collection of womenswear at the Cornell Fashion Collective’s 40th Annual Fashion Show on April 12. The Sun spoke with her about design philosophy, her Cornell origin story and her experience in the Fashion Collective as part of a series of interviews and studio tours with the Collective’s Senior designers, written by various Arts and Entertainment staff writers.

The Sun: When did you start designing? How did you end up at Cornell for design?

Holly Meyers: I started taking an interest in fashion when I learned how to sew at a summer camp when I was about nine years old. Design-wise it was mostly paper dolls and arts and crafts fashion kits until high school, when I took a fashion design class and did a college summer program at Drexel. I chose Cornell for design because I liked that it was a very well-rounded school. I could still take language and business classes at a top university while studying fashion.

Sun: How would you describe your design style? What inspirations should we be able to see in your designs?

H.M.: My design style plays a lot with form-fitting construction vs. extraneous draping. I definitely do more opulent and glamorous designs. I’m leaning more and more towards color, especially strong jewel tones. I take inspiration from sources like the red carpet or the runway.

Sun: What are your goals for designing? What type of person do you imagine that you’re designing for?

H.M.: My goal for designing is to bring lingerie into a new light. I hate that the word “lingerie” has connotations of being raunchy, sexual or embarrassing. I want to put back some beauty and appreciation for it and make it something that people aren’t ashamed of mentioning. I especially like to play with the concept of lingerie being worn as items of clothing and not only underclothing. Something as beautiful as lingerie shouldn’t be hidden all the time. I imagine that I’m designing for a confident woman who is comfortable with her body and herself.

Sun: If you could design for one celebrity, who would it be and why?

H.M.: I would design for Lupita Nyong’o because she has such a strong look. Plus she has worn quite a few very notable pieces on the red carpet already so having my name associated with her would be awesome.

Sun: Could you give us a little preview of what to expect at the April show? What type of collection are you showing? What are the inspirations behind it/the philosophy guiding it?

Sketches Courtesy of Holly Meyers

H.M.: I’m doing a collection of lingerie with my own little flair added to it. You’ll see some matching sets as well as bodysuits, bed jackets and a few other extraneous pieces. I was inspired by animals from the sea and sky. Each piece was directly taken from a different animal.

Sun: Could you talk a little bit about your experience in the Fashion Collective? I don’t think a lot of our readers are very clear on what it is/what the experience is like

H.M.: CFC is awesome because you get to do “you” without very many guidelines. It helped me explore what my aesthetic was. I started from a very different place as a freshman. Many people are surprised to learn that I log in a 30 to 40 hours per week just for CFC. It’s like a full-time job while going to school full time too.

Sun: Could you expand a little bit on your inspirations for the collection?

H.M.: I wanted to do something with a lot of different colors, so two of the most colorful things I could think of were birds and fish. From there, I decided I wanted each piece to be its own identity, and so every look is a different animal. There is a jellyfish, a raven, a parakeet and others. Taking inspiration from nature also kind of goes with my ideas of celebrating the natural female body. I wanted to get models with different body shapes and choose designs that would be flattering to them.

Sun: What can you tell us about the color scheme, construction and how you went about making the collection on the more technical side?

H.M.: For my colors I have black, dark grey, slate blues, a deep lavender, dark gold, emerald and wine. The construction for a lot of my garments is interesting because many of them required to have finishing details put in before constructing the pieces together, which is something I had never really had to do before. For example, the bras I made had to have all the edges finished before actually putting together the structure of the bra. This was the first time I also made a fully-structured underwire bra, which was difficult in terms of fit and order of construction.

Sun: We’d also love to hear more about the time that you spent conceptualizing the collection and what that process was like.

H.M.: There were so many different avenues I wanted to go down, at first, but I decided color was the most important thing I wanted to experiment with this time, so that’s how I chose the birds and fish idea. From there I went through several stages of design sketches. I’ve probably sketched at least 50 designs for this and narrowed it down to just nine. Choosing what animals I wanted to draw inspiration from also helped to hone in on what each design was going to look like. I also work a lot as I go. There were a few things I knew I wanted from the beginning, but then when I went fabric shopping, I would completely change one look based on what fabric I found.

Sun: You talked about your interest in lingerie, how did you come to be drawn to that?

H.M.: I became interested in lingerie because I got really tired and frustrated at what is currently in the market — particularly the U.S. market. It stemmed a lot from body insecurity when I was growing up in terms of sizing, and [noticing that] anything out of the range of the sizes most companies sell looked like something my grandmother wouldn’t even wear. From this, I realized lingerie was a niche not thoroughly explored, particularly in terms of correct sizing paired with innovative and attractive design. As I mentioned earlier, I also want to bring about some more artistry and appreciation for lingerie. I think there are a lot of connotations associated with lingerie about it being an object for the bedroom or something unmentionable, that I think it’s easy to forget how beautiful it can actually be. Lately, I’ve also noticed more lingerie elements on the red carpet and runway, like JLaw’s see-through dress over a bodysuit. I think exploring this use of lingerie is a really cool avenue as well and will garner more appreciation for it. Hopefully, you can see these concepts in my line for CFC!

Tickets for the Cornell Fashion Collective’s Annual Runway Show are still available online or from Collective members for $12 in advance or $15 at the door. The show will be held this Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m. in Barton Hall.

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Michelle Mone shares her top tips for picking the perfect lingerie!

MICHELLE MONE OBE is one of the UK’s most successful female entrepreneurs and founder of internationally successful lingerie brand, Ultimo. Below she shares her top tips with Very for picking the perfect lingerie.

THE PERFECT FOUNDATIONS

Picking the right lingerie is as important as picking the perfect outfit, as it will ensure that you feel exquisite yet sexy and, most importantly, comfortable and well supported. Creating the perfect foundations will make the world of difference to how you look and feel, as the right lingerie will increase your confidence because you know that you are wearing underwear that not only fits perfectly, but also beautifully enhances your shape and figure.

SIZE MATTERS

Without question, it is vital for a woman to know what size of bra she should be wearing. You may have been wearing the same size for years, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right one. If your weight fluctuates at all, then so might your bust size so I recommend checking your size every six months. Check out different cup shapes and strap solutions to find the perfect style to boost your assets and also your confidence, as wearing the right shape and size can streamline your silhouette and make you look slimmer.

INVEST IN THE BASICS

I think every woman should invest in a sexy black set as a basic lingerie staple. It’s timeless and although trends may come and go, classic black never goes out of style. My advice would be to play it safe and opt for classic black, in a flattering shape such as a balcony bra and Brazilian short. Simple yet effective!

MAKE TIME HAVE FUN

Underwear can make or break an outfit, so don’t let lingerie be an afterthought – make sure that you have made time to shop for the right styles and shapes. Sadly, not every shape will flatter every figure, and if it feels uncomfortable, it’ll look uncomfortable too. Remember underwear is fun to buy, so have fun choosing the perfect pieces.

There’s a lot to choose from on Very so I recommend you be adventurous! Order what takes your fancy or the styles that you think might suit you in a selection of sizes then try them on in the luxury of your own home. Although make sure to check return or exchange policies on everything you purchase beforehand to make sure you are able to return or swap any lingerie that doesn’t suit.

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