Happy hump day lovelies! Here at Runway District we would love for you to get to know one of our talented designers! Meet Leigh Challoner, a seventh quarter student at the Art Institute of Seattle. This steampunk fashionista is creative, intelligent, empathetic, has an off-the-wall sense of humor, and her biggest strength is being observant – which is the utmost important trait that any artist can be. Her design aesthetic is described as controlled chaos. It’s edgy but elegant, wild but glamorous, modern but influenced by the past, costumey but grounded in streetwear. It’s bright, it’s bold, it’s bombastic! She is not afraid to bre
ak the rules and can deliver on that.
What is your definition of fashion?
To me, fashion is clothing as art. Clothing as more than just something you wear, but an extension of your personality, an expression of who you are. It is clothing as a comfort on a bad day, as a confidence boost when you need one, as a way to feed your creativity even on the most ordinary, boring of days. Fashion is throwing out everything you were taught about how to dress or what “looks good”, and starting over with what you like, what you look and feel good in, and creating the aesthetic you want, whatever that may be.
Who is your favorite designer? Where do you get your inspirations when you design a garment?
In terms of couture designers, I love Alexander McQueen and Zuhair Murad – all of their designs are always so extravagant and unusual, they’re just beautiful to see. But most of my inspiration for my designs comes not from the runway, but from music. I often look at the fashion connected to music-centered subcultures, from punk to goth to rave, as well as the personal styles of my favorite musicians. For example, the person I take the most inspiration from lately is Tomasina Abate, a LA-based singer and performer (I’m actually in the process of designing a line inspired by her style in one of my classes right now – the last illustration that I attached to this document is from that line). I just love her – her fashion sense is so theatrical and over-the-top, while still managing to remain very glam and edgy – and I get the feeling her wardrobe is just about as eclectic as mine is! haha
Why did you decide to become a fashion designer? What’s your story?
I came to fashion through music; I got really into pop punk in early high school, and I became fascinated not just with the music, but with the way the musicians dressed. Panic! At The Disco were in the middle of their crazy steampunk-cabaret style at that point, and they were the first musicians whose fashion I really started to be inspired by and emulate. Especially the way Ryan Ross did everyone’s stage makeup – I was obsessed with it, and I actually did my makeup like that for a while (I went to an alternative high school, where dressing like that really wasn’t too much out of the ordinary, which was another big reason I got up the courage to start experimenting with my style in the first place). As time went on, I found myself walking into stores and thinking “I really like this garment..but it would be better if this part was different”. So then I started altering clothes to better fit my style, and it was a short step from there to designing my own original clothes.
What’s your favorite part about being a fashion designer?
It’s so hard to choose just one thing! I suppose what I find very rewarding about it is that the end product is not only beautiful and artistic, it’s also useful. I love making art in many different forms, but whenever I create something like a drawing, my worst fear is that it’s going to end up on a shelf somewhere, unseen and unappreciated, just collecting dust. When I’ve poured so much time and energy and so much of myself into something, I don’t want its life to end, so to speak, when I’m done creating it – I want it to live on. And that’s exactly what happens with fashion design; I can design a garment for someone, create it, and then give it to them and they’ll wear it. They give my garment, my creation, a continued life, and that to me is the best feeling.
How many looks will be walking down the runway at the fashion show?
I have five looks in my collection.
What are your Favorite fabrics to work with?
It changes a lot – I’ve never really been good at picking favorites in any area of my life. Right now, I’m very into working with soft, drapey fabrics that can create such beautiful, elegant silhouettes. I think my favorite thing in the world right now is iridescent silk chiffon – I could play with it for ages! But I also still love working with heavier fabrics that don’t tend to be as slippery or difficult to sew…and really, I love picking up new and different fabrics and playing with them, discovering how they look, how they behave, what I can make them do. It’s always this grand adventure of discovery, and I can get all kinds of inspiration from a cool new fabric.
What colors/textiles will you be using in the fashion show?
As many as I possibly can! I have a beautiful black sateen type of fabric that’s been finished to give it this fluid, almost oily look – it almost reminds me of oil spilled on asphalt, which is what drew me to it in the first place – and that’s the main fabric I’m using in all my designs, to pull the collection together. Other than that though, it’s kind of a free-for-all. The idea behind the line was that the garments are being “hacked” or invaded by all kinds of different fabrics, so I used everything from organza to calico to vinyl, in every color and print I could find, to achieve that look.
What are your plans for the future when you get your degree?
That’s a bit up in the air right now actually. I know I’ll be moving to LA, not only because of the fashion scene there, but also because I’ve got a lot of friends in that area, and a few of us are in the process of putting a band together, which will be a lot easier once we’re all in the same geographical area. I’m also considering going to FIDM to get a degree in knitwear design, since that’s one area where we don’t get much opportunity to explore here at AI. But I might take some time off from school to re-center myself before I start at FIDM. We’ll see.
What sets you apart from any other fashion designer?
I’ve never been afraid to break rules when it comes to fashion. In fact, it wasn’t until I started breaking the rules that I even became interested in fashion at all. Once I realized that not everything I wore had to be dictated by what was trending or popular at the time, but that fashion could be an expression of myself, an extension of my artistic outlet, I started to get really passionate about clothing and fashion. And I try to bring that to every design I make; I’m a bit more aware of trends now, because I have to be to be active in this industry, but I always try to put my own unusual twist on them.
I’m also very much not afraid to cross lines between “genres” of fashion. I pull inspiration from a widely disparate variety of sources – punk and other musical styles as I mentioned before, but also theater costume, steampunk, Asian street fashion, or anything else that happens to catch my eye. And it all comes together into a blend of designs that is uniquely mine.
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AIS Runway district 