UC Santa Barbara’s Fashion Club brought its sold-out annual spring runway show, Mirage, to LoDo Studios in Santa Barbara on Saturday for a night centered on perception, growth and imagination.

Featuring 11 student designers and 62 student models, the spring show aims to celebrate and preserve artistic expression throughout the UCSB and the Isla Vista communities, organizers said. 

Established in mid-2020, the Fashion Club — the university’s first fashion organization — presents student-designed looks on models and designs that go beyond a “cool look.” Each collection reflects personal expression, artistic experimentation and the individuality of the designers behind the pieces. 

The runway featured a mix of silhouettes, textures and styling choices that emphasized confidence, identity and innovation while highlighting the talent within UCSB’s student fashion community.

Previously, the runway show was primarily supported through fundraisers, along with donations from friends, family and the community. It used to be held at on-campus locations such as the Isla Vista Community Center and the UCSB Art, Design & Architecture Museum. 

This year, the 200-ticket show was funded by the Associated Students, allowing for a much bigger space for more attendees.

“We are incredibly grateful for their support,” said Malena Stenvall, president of Fashion Club.

Stenvall is also the creative director of MWAH, the first fashion and creative arts magazine published by the UCSB Fashion Club. 

UCSB student Shuyi Sum, who attended Saturday’s show, said projects like this should keep being funded. 

“It’s so worth it to allow the community of artists, audiences and friends to enjoy something made with the labor of love in a proper setting,” Sum said. 

That emotional connection was central to the vision behind Mirage and its theme, which “explores the mirroring of identity, of who you are, who you want to be, and who you are actively becoming,” Stenvall said. 

But the Fashion Show wasn’t just about clothes, looks and good catwalks. It was also about cultural connection and artistic community.

“More than anything, we hope audiences leave feeling inspired. We want people to reconnect with their own creativity and feel reminded of the importance of the arts and self-expression,” Stenvall said. 

The different designers develop collections that reflect their individual creative visions and aesthetics.

Whether drawing inspiration from Indian culture, transforming recycled materials into new garments, or reinterpreting classic Western styles, each designer creates from what fuels them most, according to the show’s brochure. 

“I create a line of patchwork garments that explore the idea of a society without hierarchy, where individuality exists within unity,” designer Joshua Huang said.

Spectators cheered, clapped and filled the venue with energy from start to finish. Models struck poses, blew kisses and waved their merch in the air.

“I enjoyed the show, even as someone who isn’t really knowledgeable or actively keeping up with the whole fashion scene,” said Sum. “…It was daring, hypnotic and elemental.” 

Organizers credited much of the show’s expanded production to the support of LoDo Studios and its founder, UCSB alumnus Jacob Tell. Tell played a major role in helping bring Mirage to life over several months.

According to club directors, the studio team worked closely with students throughout the planning process, assisting with catwalk construction, lighting, audio, seating and overall production logistics. 

Organizers said the studio’s willingness to support student creatives helped make the large-scale runway show financially realistic in Santa Barbara’s expensive event landscape.

They also credited the growth of the club to the increasing demand for creative spaces on campus where students can collaborate and explore interests in fashion, photography, modeling and editorial work. 

They pointed to the launch of MWAH magazine by club alumnus Fiona Anderson as a major milestone that expanded opportunities for hands-on experience across multiple creative disciplines. 

Club leaders said the organization’s continued expansion reflects students’ desires for communities centered on artistic collaboration and self-expression.

“While adulthood often pressures us to abandon childlike wonder, this theme insists that imagination is not simply a phase, but something we continuously chase, reshape, and reclaim throughout our lives,” Stenvall said.