Have you always wanted to see VCUArts' fabulous fashion show but couldn't get a ticket? Did you miss the May 10 sold-out show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts?

On Monday, May 22, Cabell Library will open the Lecture Hall to a screening of the popular fashion show. The noon showing is for faculty, staff, students, alumni and other friends and supporters of VCU. Bring your own lunch and gather in the Lecture Hall.  

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The show, long one of the hottest tickets in town, is a student-organized showcase of 125 garments designed by fashion juniors and seniors. The Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising presents “Runway 2017: LAUNCH,” to be held at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard. The Cabell Lecture Hall doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Attendees are reminded that the Lecture Hall is on a quiet study floor and to be aware of students who are working in the library in the final days of finals. 

This annual juried event allows attendees the chance to view fashion from VCUarts’ rising designers. Attendees will experience a professional runway show, with segments organized into “Knitwear,” “Dresses,” “Collections from VCUarts Qatar,” “Menswear,” “Denim,” and the highlight of the event, the “Senior Collections.” Following each segment, select garments will be recognized as critics’ choices.

The team responsible for producing “Runway 2017: LAUNCH” consists of 11 students who have participated in this year’s Advanced Show Production class. The students work in committees on different aspects of the show, from model selection and training to backstage operations. They work both in and outside of the classroom producing a variety of public and private events leading up to the main runway show. LAUNCH is a collaboration between the student producers, design students, fashion faculty and sponsors.

“What is the future of fashion and retail as we have known it? Even now it is breaking apart and reforming itself in the era of the millennial customer and the evolving digital age,” says Patricia Brown, chair of Fashion Design and Merchandising. “As fashion reinvents itself, how do we best help our students launch their careers in such a fast-changing environment? This event is the result of a journey of exploration and discovery, and the launching of our graduating designers and merchandisers into the new fashion space.”

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The fashion show, without sound, will also be showing on the Cabell Library Screen facing The Compass throughout Commencement Weekend and throughout the late spring and summer months as part of a summer showcase of student work. Details

• May 22, noon, Cabell Library Lecture Hall
• Throughout the summer on the Cabell Screen