THREADS Designer Spotlight: Claudia Miculici

After working backstage at THREADS for two years, Claudia Miculici, apparel merchandising and design junior, decided to step out from behind the curtain and put her designs center stage this year.

“I really like to challenge myself and push my limits to see what I’m capable of and take my knowledge from pattern making and show people my creativity,” Miculici said.

The collection is comprised of three dresses featuring fitted bodices and circle skirts. Looking to challenge herself, Miculici, who is usually more partial to darker colors, decided to designing for the Spring/Summer portion of the show.

Her main dilemma was pushing herself out of her normal comfort zone of mostly black fabrics. The color pallet for the collection is very muted, showcasing a lot of washed out colors.

“My collection is a mix of the femininity of the 1950s meets the mod shapes of the 1960s inspired by the human body, with a kind of outer space eerie influence to it,” Miculici said. “I want it to be something different from what everyone else is designing.”

Miculici is old school when it comes to gaining a muse for her designs.  Some of her admirations are Audrey Kitching, for her very eclectic style, Bridget Bardot, from the 1950s, and the always iconic Audrey Hepburn.

Recently watching a lot of French films has been another contributing factor to her inspirations.

Designing was the easiest part of the THREADS process for Miculici, however time is more of a challenge. Construction of the garments is time consuming while trying to balance school and other obligations.

The designers for THREADS all have their own system for finishing their collection on time for the show. Miculici is all about lists.

“I make check lists and to do lists, trying to get one or two things done a week,” Miculici said. “I’m trying to just take it one thing at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed.”

Miculici is entering her first year as a designer with only one hope.

“I just want to capture people’s attention and their interest,” Miculici said “Really open their eyes to the different potential that fashion can have.”