Department of Design student-created fashion was a highlight at the UC Davis Health Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program’s 30th anniversary gala held Feb. 2 at the Davis campus. The garments were new additions to the UC Davis Red Dress Collection, now in its 15th year.
Nearly 200 guests attended the gala, including Chancellor Gary S. May and wife LeShelle May, Dean Estella Atekwana of the College of Letters and Science, and numerous other community leaders from the region.
The Red Dress Collection is an interdisciplinary collaboration led by Dr. Amparo C. Villablanca, director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Program, and Adele Zhang, curator for the UC Davis Design Museum Collection, senior continuing lecturer, and creator of the Red Dress Collection program. In 2004 the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign made the red dress an international symbol intended to raise awareness of heart disease as the leading cause of death for women.
“This collection was the first interdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Design and the Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program,” said Atekwana. “This unique collaboration led to a design course in which students learn about heart-healthy living, bring their personal lives to the design process, and use their creativity for the public good.”
A total of 13 red dresses debuted at the gala, nine of which were created by Zhang’s current students. The remaining four dresses were created by design and fashion alumni.
“(The alumni) wanted to stay connected to UC Davis through this opportunity to collaborate, along with their home communities and all the other designers, to create change and spread ideas through the power of fashion,” Zhang said.
A dynamic example of how social responsibilities and real-world experience are embedded in modern-day design teaching, the collection has reached its goal of 100 pieces this year.
Under Zhang’s guidance, this impactful collection has been exhibited in high-visibility venues, including the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, the State Capitol, the UC Davis Design Museum, and even a storefront in downtown Davis.
Each year, new designs created by Zhang’s students in her upper-division fashion studio classes are unveiled at the Heart Health Education Forum held each February, American Heart Month, to raise awareness that heart disease is the number one killer of women, more than all cancers combined.
