Threads Spotlight: Jennise’s super vision for ‘The Avengers’

Virginia senior Jennise Thurston was enthusiastic and bubbly as she sat down to talk about her collection for the Threads fashion show, coming up April 14. Basing her designs off the movie “The Avengers,” Thurston will be transforming these superheroes into super designs as they go down the runway.

GC: When did you first know you wanted to be a fashion designer?

I took a fashion design class in high school, so after that I was kind of like, “Oh, maybe I like fashion design,” and just kind of went with it. I’ve also been sewing since I was about 10.

GC: What is your dream job? What would you like to do after graduation?

Well, this summer I did a product development internship, which was the whole aspect of fashion design, from conception to completion, and I really liked that. I liked taking ideas and finding the fabrics and everything that goes into them, actually like sketching and designing and then seeing the final product and fitting it. So (the internship) was kind of everything. So I think I would like that instead of being generalized to one specific thing.

GC: Is this your first year in Threads?

This is actually my third year; I started when I was a sophomore.

GC: Why did you choose “The Avengers?”

I saw it this summer, and just really liked it. I thought it was really cool. I’ve always liked superheroes and comic books, and so I just decided it would be a really fun one to do; to reinterpret it.

GC: Can you describe your collection?

I reinterpreted “The Avengers” into evening wear, so it’s like the superheroes left their ‘superhero’ mode, and now they’re doing different things. They still have the same colors, though. I have three guy and three girl models.

GC: How often do you work on your collection?

It seems like every day I do something little! Whether that’s sewing, thinking about my designs, or patterning, it just seems like everyday I’m at least doing something.

GC: What are you looking forward to most about the show?

Definitely seeing everything come together and seeing it all out there at the same time. Seeing everyone else’s stuff too. There’s a lot of people who picked, maybe obscure movies that I wouldn’t have thought of, so I’m excited to see what they do with their collections.

GC: Nervous about?

That I won’t get everything done! No, I know I’ll get it all done, just getting it done to the standard that I want to.

GC: How do you feel about this being your last year in Threads?

It’s sad and exciting at the same time. I love doing it and I would love to have another year. Outside of Threads, it’s hard to find fashion shows and get into them so that will be different.

GC: The question everyone is dying to know, which of “The Avengers” superheroes is your favorite?

I really like Iron Man!  He’s just really quirky and he’s so full of himself and I think that’s hilarious. I think it’s really cool that he doesn’t have a ‘power’. His power is his mind, and so I think he’s more relatable than some of the other ones.