THREADS Designer Spotlight: Daniela Agnello

 

Apparel merchandising and design junior Daniela Agnello displayed her first collection at THREADS last year.

The collection, based on nature, consisted of three dresses. Since then, maturing as a designer, Agnello learned a lot from participating in last year’s show.

“Understanding what I need to get done and when I need to get it done, not procrastinating,” Agnello said. “I worked on getting the construction better for this year.”

Agnello said that last year was fun. She had more ideas for this year, and she wanted to challenge herself by pushing herself to do it again.

The inspiration for the collection is a Katy Perry, retro style. Constructing tiny flowing flowers utilizing an haute couture technique is interpreted into one of the dress designs, and additionally created the design concept for the collection.

Agnello was instructed on this technique while completing her study abroad in Paris.

“My vision had more to do with spring and bright colors, I completely hate winter,” Agnello said. “I just wanted to stay away from the darkness and bring the light out.”

She knew from the Paris study abroad that she wanted to make those flowers on a dress. Agnello was also inspired by 1950s bathing suits and decided to combine the two ideas.

The collection is comprised of four different looks. Three are spring dresses and one is a bathing suit inspired dress.

Keeping to a brighter aesthetic, colors include yellow, turquoise and pink. Agnello’s design techniques are patterning, draping, and welding.

Welding! Yes, that’s correct.

Agnello is welding a metal bustier that will be incorporated into one of the dresses. All of these techniques took a lot of time and practice to make them perfect.

Being apart of THREADS for the second year and reflecting on last year’s show, Agnello is trying to prevent the usual nerves and stresses that accompany the show.

“I make lists of what I need to do for the week and work to accomplish that,” Agnello said. “I still struggle with procrastination but this has helped. Fitting the models can be complicated sometimes because their bodies can change.”

Agnello is hoping to get a feeling of accomplishment out of THREADS. The accomplishment she is looking for is one that shows that all of her hard work paid off once again.

She also hopes for her designs to look excellent on the runway and that all of the outfits stay together.