Come see ten of our graduating seniors present the research they’ve done this year for their Senior Capstone Projects!
When: Thur., April 19th, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Where: 160 English Bldg
Come hungry–we’ll have lots of delicious food from Red Herring!
Category: UIUC Undergrad Anth Majors in the News!
UIUC’s own ANTH major, Gordana Rasic, debuted her fashion line at a major fashion event in New York City yesterday. Gordana brings her anthropological training to bear on the clothes she designs. The theme of her current collection is “Duality within Society;” in a nod to her academic focus at the U of I on biological anthropology, her previous collection explored the theme of “Vital Organs.” Gordana says the woman she imagines designing for is “very self-empowered and unafraid to speak her mind.”
Gordana Rasic Enjoying the Limelight (with co-designer Omar Villalobos & a Model) after Their Line Has Debuted on the Runway of EMERGE! at Fashion Week, Feb. 14, 2012 (photo by Hannah Gottlieb-Graham)
Gordana is already making a splash in the New York fashion world. On Feb. 14, she was one of six “emerging” designers–and by far, the youngest–from around the world whose work was showcased at the third semi-annual “EMERGE!” event held as part of New York’s famed “Fashion Week.” The event was held at the Broad Street Ballroom in lower Manhattan.
The by-invitation-only event was hosted by actress Tracee Ellis Ross and model Chavis Aaron. At the event, canonical fashion designer, Dianne von Furstenburg, bestowed Fashion Innovator Award on Vogue magazine’s designer, André Leon Talley. Other featured designers included Terri Stevens, who was featured on Season 4 of “Project Runway.” In the audience, “celebrity sightings” included Angela Simmons, Toccara, Derek J, B Smith, Ashanti, New York Housewives Jill Zarin, and Alex and Simon McCord.
You can look at Gordana’s designs and read more about her fashion line on her homepage: http://gocadesigns.4ormat.com/home. We can’t wait to see more from our anthropologist-fashion designer! We’re proud of your successes, Gordana!
Gordana Rasic (with her company vice-president, Omar Villalobos) Taking Bows on the Runway after Their New Line has Debuted at the EMERGE Show of Fashion Week, 2/14/12 (photo by Hannah Gottlieb-Graham)
Gordana Relaxing on the Balcony of a NYC Bldg before Her Debut at the EMERGE Fashion Show in NYC
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Thanks to the South Carolina Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Humanities for grant support for two projects on Edgefield ceramics and archaeology. Congratulations to the Edgefield County Historical Society, as the sponsoring organization for these projects, and to George Calfas as Project Director and author of the grant proposals.
The first project consisted of a five-part speaker series convened in South Carolina in the Summer of 2011, entitled “Pottersville: 200 Years of Pottery Production in the Edgefield District.”
The second project is entitled “Pottersville: Home of Alkaline Glazed Stoneware,” and has the following description on the S.C. Humanities Council web site: “create a short documentary film of 8 to 10 minutes showcasing the alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition that is so important in Edgefield County. This film will be presented at the Joanne T. Rainsford Discovery Center in Edgefield, the McKissick Museum in Columbia, at regional historical society meetings, as well as on several websites, including SCETV’s KnowItAll.org, which reaches K-12 classrooms across the state” (http://schumanities.org/home).
Over the past few months Mr. Calfas and his colleagues have been working with Storyline Media to edit film footage with the goal of sharing the rich history of the pottery communities of Edgefield, the accomplishments of African-American and European-American artisans in those industries, and to document the 2011 Archaeological Fieldschool at Pottersville. The final product is a concise, 15 minute documentary now available online. In the coming month a DVD version will be added to the Anthropology department video library. If you would like a copy please let Mr. Calfas know, and please pass along this information to others who may be interested. Additional information about this multi-year, collaborative research and education project is also available online.
Yes, you read correctly.
Our own Gordana Rasic–who is a a pre-med student double-majoring in anthropology and molecular and cell biology, has a secret life as a fashion designer . . . She’s only been designing clothes for a year-and-a-half, but she already has her own business, called Goca — and her current collection has been chosen to be featured at “EMERGE!,” an event held as part of Fashion Week that features five emerging fashion designers from around the world. Gordana is one of the five! If you’d like to see the sorts of clothes she designs, check out the website of her business: http://gocadesigns.4ormat.com/.
The organizers of EMERGE! are already featuring publicity about the upcoming runway show, and they’ve interviewed Gordana, along with her collaborator (Omar Villalobos), on their website. You can see the 3-minute video interview here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxaL4Zpebg&feature=related
Good luck in New York, Gordana!
