Haley Beyer: Fashion Showdown

Hayley Beyer, a fourth-year fashion design major from Roanoke, Virginia.
Photo by Crosby Ignasher.

What was this whole process like?

Before the end of [junior] year, we’re given our assignment. I was in New York and so I basically started gathering yardage and inspiration, taking pictures, I went to a couple of bookstores and picked up books. I knew I wanted to focus on the body and muscle structures, but I didn’t quite know how to do that yet. I realized that I was interested in body structure because I had planned on being a performance arts major before I even started SCAD. I realized that I knew my body—well, maybe not so much anymore, but it was a good way to tie in fashion and your muscle structures. It was all kind of cohesive. So I started manipulating fabrics and moving pleated fabric around the structure and the forms and kind of seeing how my limits were as far as what pleating would do and what fabrics would lend itself well to movement. I kind of just started draping and placing and seeing what would happen.

What was the whole experience like for you?

Overwhelming. For me, anyway. I’m not that competitive, which—performance arts, you would think I would be more competitive, but no, I’m not very competitive so it was hard for me to think of this as almost like a competition in a way. Because we’re all artists, it’s hard for us to be in a schedule and kind of adhering to that schedule, especially when you’re trying to create new shapes and forms that no one has seen before. It was kind of hard to stay along those guidelines of how much time I had…

What inspired you to come up with your collection?

Like I said, with my whole performance past and muscle structures. Basically the way your muscles move when you perform. So I paid a lot of attention to that. I went and got anatomy books to see why your muscles move the way they do.

What kind of performing arts background did you have?

Dancer and singer. Show choir, kind of like “Glee.”

How long have you been doing that?

Since I was 10 or 11.

Describe your aesthetic.

I work with a lot of nude color palettes. I’m kind of afraid of color if anything. I steer clear of bright neon tones and I like very whimsical, ethereal garments. I work primarily in evening wear, not ready-to-wear.

Are you nervous about the show?

A little bit, yeah. I think it’s because I haven’t seen it yet. I mean, I have seen bits and pieces of it, but they’ve been fixing hems, refitting things… I don’t know how my new model looks because they changed out one of my models … I don’t know what she looks like in the garment. I don’t know what it looks like walking. I saw it, but not on the actual runway so I’m curious.

How do you think this whole experience has prepared you for the future after you graduate?

I definitely have a thick backbone now. Between the critiques and you know, professors’ critiques and pushing you beyond your limits. They push people as hard as they can be pushed, like with any major. Definitely I feel like I have a steel rod as a backbone.

Have you had any professional experience before this?

Just internships. I interned at Marchesa last summer and I loved it. It was really fun, which was probably why I pushed harder in evening wear. I knew I was going to do evening wear, but I didn’t exactly know until I went to Marchesa. I thought I was going to do bridal for senior. Marchesa opened my eyes to evening wear a little bit more and the ethereal nature of garments. Before that, I interned with April Johnson for a little while. A couple of internships, not much.

What did you do in Marchesa?

I started out working with the production pattern maker for a while. Her and I just really clicked and got along and she wanted my help quite a bit, which actually turned me on to wanting to become a pattern maker when I graduate. It takes quite a few years, but maybe I could do an apprenticeship for a little while. I worked as that for a little while, then we kind of go more hands-on as the shows came about and I started helping them make undergarments and beading a lot for custom garments. It was really hands on. It was a really cool internship.

When did you decide to pursue a career in fashion?

I guess it must have been my sophomore/junior year of high school. I was doing performance art, but I didn’t think it would make a good career path for me because I’m not that competitive and performance art is much more competitive than fashion could ever be and a lot more focused. I had taken fashion classes in high school—they had three classes available and I took them all and I really, really enjoyed it. I thought it would be a good career path to try. I came down here and I loved it and decided that this was the school for me. I thought I would double major in fashion marketing and this and then I ended up liking fashion design so much that I ended up dropping the double major. I decided to just focus on fashion design.

What is the most pressing issue facing today’s fashion designers?

Honestly I think it’s being innovative and pushing forward in fashion instead of taking steps backwards. I think we have a tendency to latch on to the basic pant-and-jacket-and-skirt-and-top and kind of figuring out ways to manipulate shapes and fabrics in order to be a totally new idea, so I think it’s kind of hard for us to move forward a little bit.

Do you have any advice for the next seniors?

Be mentally and physically prepared. Some people put their personal life first and you get behind. It’s 24-hour work nights, criticism, and thinking about all the elements of the garment.

Do you have anything else to add?

Thank you for the opportunity!