“The most beautiful thing about it is the students’ sense of curiosity and their desire to know more,” says Tim Jaeger, Director and Chief Curator of Galleries and Exhibitions at Ringling College. “Seeing them fall in love with the craft and work with it is fabulous – it’s what we set out to do here.” Jaeger is talking about Head to Toe, the first of an inaugural fashion exhibition presented this November by the Ringling College Exhibitions and Galleries in conjunction with the school’s Business of Art and Design departments. Head to Toe, which highlights the designs of fashion influencer Marie Colbert, known in part for introducing “camouflage” to the industry, is the product of a student curatorial team selected from Jaeger’s class, “The Business of Art”. Jaeger’s objective was to create a real-world scenario in which students from a range of disciplines would have to work together to create an exhibition of professional caliber. “Ten students were selected to have a hands-on approach to how to produce an arts exhibition. It’s meant to both bridge generational gaps and to introduce a universal language that transcends and shifts the culture of fashion,” says Jaeger. “They’re learning deadlines and everything they need to do to get the job done. Making art is one of the most important things in this process, but i like to say “how do we make art work?” Understanding the business of art and the collaborative nature of this industry is just as valuable as standing in front of an easel.” 

Head to Toe is also a product of Jaeger simply keeping his ear to the ground. While the seven on-campus galleries host around 30-35 exhibitions a year, many of them featuring the art of visiting artists alongside that of the students and faculty, they function also as an outlet for the creative and artistic maturation of the student body. “On a college campus you walk around a lot and see everything from an interest in cosplay to the Ringling College drag club to Halloween outfits to desires for sustainable clothing. For the past five years, I’ve noticed an uptick in students’ interest in the fiber arts and so with observing that, you try to find the exhibition that will nourish the creativity of the student,” says Jaeger. This methodology is reflected throughout every facet of Head to Toe, most notably in the exhibition’s closing event – the Fresco Fashion Show. The Fresco show, which was conceptualized, managed, and carried out by a cross-disciplinary team of students, is a sustainable fashion show that presents a design collection made out of upcycled materials. The collection, which is inspired by the work of Marie Colbert, was created in an effort to raise awareness of the fashion industry’s negative environmental impact. 

Fresco, named after the Italian wall paintings on wet plaster and symbolizes fresh, new beginnings, is the brainchild of Linda Liao, a Senior with a passion for sustainable fashion and a penchant for working with her classmates. “I started this project, because when I came to Ringling, I felt like there were not a lot of opportunities for students  to express themselves through fashion. I wanted to do something that involved a lot of students and gave them the chance to explore fashion and sustainable fashion,” says Liao. Three years and two shows later, the Fresco fashion show is existing on its biggest stage yet – the Ringling College Galleries. To pull off the two-hour event, Liao had to lean on Jaeger as well as her network of fellow students, eager and enthusiastic to be involved with a new challenge. “I wanted to expand the show to more than just students interested in fashion and becoming models. I wanted to give them a platform to showcase their art. We have art students doing caricatures on the spot for the guests and others selling their artwork at the show,” says Liao. “I asked friends interested in music to make the song for the show, my friend who does videography created a short intro video, we all just found ways to do something creative and help each other.”