IN THE NEWS: Students Collaborate with Daybreak Arts for Annual Fashion Show by O’More College of Architecture & Design

By Jennifer Justus - April 22, 2022

When the models strut the runway at the annual Fashion Show by O’More College of Architecture & Design this evening, the spotlights will be up, the makeup retouched and the looks perfected. The show after all is a highly anticipated culmination of four years of hard work by students in the studio from conception to finishing snips and hems. But before the design students could fully complete their projects this term, they first needed to hear from individuals who have experienced homelessness.

This year for inspiration, each designer paired with a visual artist from Daybreak Arts, a social enterprise nonprofit that creates artistic and economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. The designers looked to the Daybreak artwork as muse by studying their acrylic on canvas to mixed media. But in addition to learning about the work, Daybreaks Arts founder and Belmont alumna Nicole Brandt Minyard said it was important that the artists also share their perspective on clothes and fashion as people experiencing homelessness.