The Savannah College of Art and Design is thrilled to present SCAD FASHION 2023, the university’s hotly anticipated showcase of sartorial style, innovation, and originality from SCAD School of Fashion senior and graduate students. SCAD FASHION 2023 will debut live from SCAD Atlanta, Friday, May 19, at 8:30 p.m. ET, inviting global audiences and fashion enthusiasts to experience the supreme design talents of the next generation of fashion superstars via livestream at scad.edu/fashion2023.

“Contemporary American fashion lives right here in the great state of Georgia, where a new class of elite SCAD grads emerge every spring, ready to conquer the world," said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. "These wildly inventive designers make their grand debut at an event all of Atlanta celebrates FASHION — right in the heart of Midtown.”

SCAD FASHION 2023 opens with the premiere of the university’s latest fashion film, Dimensions, directed by SCAD alum Chris Finn (B.F.A., motion media design, 2015) of the award-winning creative production studio Scholar. Filmed on the cutting-edge LED volume stage at SCAD’s Savannah Film Studios, Dimensions takes viewers on a journey through interstellar realms as five heroes from distant worlds reveal the boundless possibilities and empowerment of fashion. Featuring inventive garments, jewelry, accessories, and sneakers from more than 100 SCAD School of Fashion students, with exuberant performances by SCAD student actors and models, Dimensions reveals the collaborative brilliance of student creatives and accomplished alumni.

“I’m thrilled to have worked with the next generation of incredible fashion designers to create this exciting film for SCAD FASHION,” said Finn. “Conceptualizing and designing this film around such a diverse collection of garments, immense creativity, and craftsmanship is a rare opportunity that I have cherished throughout this process. The students’ talents and dedication to their future in the industry have inspired me to combine many of my own aesthetic and technical passions into this mixed-media film. My time as a SCAD motion media design student equipped me with a diverse set of tools that I still use today in my approach to any creative brief. SCAD truly prepares its students for success in the industry, and I’m grateful for the foundation it gave me.”

Following the film, SCAD FASHION 2023 seamlessly segues into the live runway show, featuring a dazzling array of more than 175 stellar designs from more than 55 designers that represent the pinnacle of students’ studies at SCAD and showcase the future of fashion on the international stage.

Through the university’s Style Lab mentor program, graduating SCAD fashion students have the unique opportunity to engage with a dedicated cadre of industry experts as they complete their looks for the runway. The collections featured at SCAD FASHION have also been expertly critiqued by a jury of some the most influential figures in the fashion industry today, including designer Laquan Smith; designer Waris Ahluwalia; Nicole Phelps, global director of Vogue Runway; photographer and designer Tommy Ton; designer Italo Zucchelli; Sara Kozlowski, vice president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America; Pierre Rougier, founder of PR Consulting; designer Camilla Stærk; stylist Paul Cavaco; Peter Arnold, executive director of the Fashion Scholarship Fund; Noah Johnson, global style director of GQ; David McKenzie, head of design at Puma; and Hillary Taymour, creative director of Collina Strada, among others.

“This year we are incredibly excited to be hosting our fashion show in Atlanta, and I’m pleased to say that what you’ll see on the runway matches the energy that you feel in the city,” said Dirk Standen, dean of the SCAD School of Fashion. “I have been deeply impressed by the craft, artistry, and sheer hard work that our graduating students have brought to their final collections. This new generation of designers look less to outside influences than to their own histories, experiences, and identities. Out of that comes clothes rich with emotional resonance. I can’t wait to see these creative talents tell their individual stories on a global stage.”

SCAD FASHION 2023 programming includes the annual SCAD Jewelry Trunk Show, presented Thursday, May 11 and Friday, May 12 at Jen Library in Savannah, featuring one-of-a-kind creations from SCAD jewelry students. The university will also honor famed photographer Ellen von Unwerth with the prestigious SCAD Étoile for her illustrious contributions to photography, film, and fashion on the occasion of her new exhibition, Ellen von Unwerth: This Side of Paradise, opening May 18 at SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta with an avant-garde glam masquerade ball at 8:30 p.m., free and open to the public.

SCAD offers one of the most elite, connected, and comprehensive fashion programs in the world with undergraduate and graduate degrees in fashion design, accessory design, jewelry design, fibers, and fashion marketing and management. The SCAD School of Fashion centers real-world expertise. Students study sartorial history and process, meet career-making brand reps and editors, and get one-on-one mentorship from leading designers like Mary Katrantzou, Phillip Lim, Brandon Maxwell, Miuccia Prada, Christian Siriano, and the late Vivienne Westwood.

SCAD students and alumni continually move fashion and design forward in new ways and are known around the globe for their industry-redefining brands and ventures. SCAD fashion alumni helm international houses like Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thom Browne, and Marc Jacobs; lead powerhouse brands like The Row and Anthropologie; and dress cultural legends like Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, Zendaya, Rihanna, Heidi Klum, and Tracee Ellis Ross. Additionally, SCAD fashion students and alumni have earned the industry’s most prestigious awards and honors, including accolades from the CFDA, the LVMH Prize, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute, Fashion Scholarship Fund, and the International Design Awards, as well as features in leading international fashion, art, and design publications.

SCAD FASHION 2023 schedule of events

Thursday, May 11–Friday, May 12 | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
SCAD Jewelry Trunk Show
Jen Library | 201 E. Broughton St., Savannah

Thursday, May 18 | 8:30 p.m.
Ellen von Unwerth: This Side of Paradise exhibition opening and presentation of SCAD Étoile
SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film | 1600 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta

Friday, May 19 | 8:30 p.m. ET
SCAD FASHION 2023 runway show and film premiere
By invitation only
Watch live at scad.edu/fashion2023

SCAD Style Lab 2023 mentors
John Caruso, designer and brand consultant
Ben Chmura, SCAD B.F.A., fashion, 2001; director, color and trend, Under Armour
Briana Danyele, B.F.A., fashion, 2009; designer
Amber Halford, creative director, 69
Camilla Stærk, designer and founder, STÆRK; co-founder, Stærk&Christensen
Frederic Tremblay, design consultant

For more information, visit scad.edu/fashion2023.