Clothes Inspired by Art: USU Students Bring The Art of Fashion to Life at the NEHMA

Utah State University apparel design students are showcasing fashion in conversation with art at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art.

Students in Melissa Clark’s patternmaking course created half-scale fashion designs inspired by artwork in NEHMA’s collection, and their work is on display in The Art of Fashion.

The designs were unveiled during a reception where students presented their colorful interpretations alongside the artwork that inspired them. Many drew influence from NEHMA’s Repainting the I: The Intermountain Intertribal Indian School Murals exhibit, alongside other current exhibits, connecting visual art with textile design.

“Half scale is harder to sew — you have tighter tubes and corners and whatnot,” said Clark, a lecturer in the Department of Applied Sciences, Technology and Education. “You have to be more careful about your fabrics because they don’t always lay well when they’re sized down so much. We have to change some of our sewing techniques so that they work with the smaller pieces.”

For students, the project was both technically and emotionally engaging. Apparel design student Abigail Budge said she was drawn to the Repainting the I exhibit that she chose as inspiration.

“I love this exhibit — it was really moving for me,” Budge said. “It’s fun to design something new that’s inspired by something already beautiful. I wanted to create a smooth transition between the artwork and my design.”

Classmate Bethany Lines focused on translating visual elements from a painting into sewing techniques.

“I really wanted to use sewing techniques to transition the painting’s outlines into fabric,” Lines said. “I used a technique called piping, where on the seam you sandwich colorful fabric with yarn so it keeps a rounded shape. It brings out the layers. There’s also a lot of pleating, which was hard to pattern at half scale — you have to angle it through the sewing machine so it sews straight but doesn’t get caught underneath itself.”

The class explored ways to pair color, pattern and texture with NEHMA’s featured artworks, demonstrating how fashion can serve as an interpretive art form.

The Art of Fashion exhibit runs through Nov. 24 at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art on the USU Logan campus.