On Saturday, April 6 XFACTOR Couture trend-set with their La Putain Spring Summer 24 collection at the Schmidthorst College of Business.
Designer and Second-year Fashion Merchandising and Product Development Major Zahir Davis stunned the audience with Dsquared and Y2K-inspired looks, earning rounds of applause and acclaim from the audience.
“The main concept item that you’re going to see in the show are miniskirts. Some of them might have ruffles, some of them might just be a plain, like a jean miniskirt. Some are firm miniskirts,” he said.
The miniskirt has become a favorite component of Davis’ over time, being seen worn by his close friends and celebrities alike. Fashionable personalities such as Jatavia, Beyoncé, and Paris Hilton come to mind for him.
“Paris Hilton said, ‘Life is short, like a belt. Take a risk.’ That’s what we’re trying to embody in the show, ‘Life is short, take risks, like a belt.’ That’s why the miniskirt is going to be kind of short. There is going to be some wild looks- in my own opinion,” Davis said.
The Cleveland-born designer details incorporating diesel aesthetics into his creative process.
“A lot of backless items are going to be there also. There’s going to be a lot of references from Dsquared, the mismatching, of course, and the aesthetic of diesel. Diesel- they’re more targeted towards using jean material,” Davis explained.
Recyclable materials were a key aspect in crafting the pieces, Davis described.
“Everything is made out of recycled material. Whether it was thrifted or it was donated by the many students on Bowling Green State University’s campus or they were actually gifted to me by TJ Maxx or Salvation Army. A lot of those thrift store places that I outreached to gave me those clothes to work with,” he said.
As for creative sparks, Mugler serves as one of Davis’ biggest inspirations, spanning multiple art forms.
“Mugler is definitely one of those designers that I’ve been watching for a very, very long time. They really did inspire a lot, especially because they work with the LGBTQ community. I take a lot of inspo from their videography, music-wise. I take inspo from their silhouettes of course,” Davis said.
Within the show itself, 34 looks make an appearance on the runway. Davis had been making last-minute adjustments to his creations.
“My favorite look is Ziyaan’s pink and jean look. The train- you guys know I love a train,” he said.
Model Ziyaan wears the piece as look 22 in the gallery.
“I also like the last look. It is a jean train. It was made this week actually. I think it was actually a very creative piece, and maybe one day, I’ll make it again,” Davis said.
Model Na’eema wears the piece as look 34 in the gallery.
“It was an idea from the desk wear fashion show last year. He used a lot of jean so I was like, ‘Okay I have a lot of reusable jean, so I was wondering, ‘What could I do with that?’ So I put all that jean together and I made a jean train,” Davis said.
See XFACTOR Couture La Putain SS24 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to BG Falcon Media for more on-campus fashion coverage.
