PORTLAND, Ore. — Freshmen at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in downtown Portland have been in class for less than a month, but they have been tirelessly working on one of their biggest projects of the semester — turning cardboard into something they can wear.
“All different cardboard can turn into a wearable form. They can’t use tape, they can’t use glue, they can only use cardboard,” explained Maghann Gilligan, a professor at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Each student has to turn a piece of cardboard into something they can wear. The only thing they can use are razors and straight edges to cut the cardboard, and students unveiled them as they walked the runway.
“I wanted to make a ball because it’s an easy shape to make, and I want to make into something that could be fashionable in a way,” said freshman Alexander Telles.
Professor David Eckard designed the class several years ago. This semester, 150 freshmen signed up for the course.
“I originated the assignment maybe 15 years ago, and it’s become this big tradition; it’s become a right-of-passage of our incoming freshman, which is great,” said Eckard.
Each year, students get creative with this project, a project that have only three weeks to finish.
“I decided to do a bull fighter; it’s an inspiration, and it’s based off a story my mother told me about her friend who was a bull fighter,” said freshman Anna Maria Warren.
Many of the students pay very close attention to the detail in their costume, and many students said the best part of the project is it forces them to think a little differently when it comes to design.