Shifting Identities

Time waits for no one in the fashion world, and the executive producers of the Identities Fashion Show, Thomas N. Dai ’14 and Rachel F. Chanen ’15, have experienced this firsthand. Formerly the creative directors of Identities, Dai and Chanen started planning for this year’s show at the beginning of last summer. While the annually sold-out student production has served as a creative outlet for aspiring fashionistas and designers from Harvard, as well as from established businesses, since its inception in 2006, it has also challenged its producers to explore fashion from the business side and to adapt to the constantly changing atmosphere of the industry. In a business where last-minute changes are frequent, the board is still formatting the show as late as a week before it is to premiere this Friday. “I have learned more from being a producer of Identities than I have from being a student at Harvard,” Chanen says.

Although Dai says the theme of the show is always dynamic and develops organically from the interactions between board members, he also emphasizes that Identities will remain first and foremost a student production that promotes creativity in fashion and design. “It’s important to never lose sight of the core of the show. We want to celebrate what is underexposed at Harvard,” Dai says.

This year’s theme is inspired by a panel on entrepreneurship in fashion sponsored by the Harvard Vestis Council, of which Dai is a board member. Carrying on with the entrepreneurial spirit of the show, the board made many changes to the show’s customary setup. Rather than honoring a fashion designer with the Leadership in the Arts award, as they have in past years, the producers decided to partner with Loqall, a fashion startup developed out of Harvard, to host a fashion competition. The winning pieces from the eight finalists will be featured during the show to illuminate the future of fashion in the student world. To give the show an experimental feel, Identities will be held not in Annenberg, its traditional location, but in Northwest Labs. “We want the show to be innovative, to engage with fashion now and in the future,” Dai says.

—Staff writer Connie Yan can be reached at connieyan@college.harvard.edu.