Clothes, Confidence, & the Stubbornness of Joy

Sometimes joy is a radical act.

“When I was in middle school, I wore bright, patterned pants that I called my ‘confidence pants,’” said Emma Rubinson, a senior in fashion design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. “They made me feel bold, expressive, and a little uncomfortable. Facing my fear of judgment helped me gain confidence in myself, and inspired me to always wear my heart on my sleeve.”

At 4 p.m. Saturday, May 15, Rubinson and six classmates will present their work as part of the Sam Fox School’s 92nd Annual Fashion Design Show. Filled with sleek silhouettes, saturated palettes and crazy-quilt textures, the show—titled “The Collective”—is a full-throated rejection of pandemic-era dourness.

“It’s important to find joy in the clothes we wear,” said Zachary T. Adams. His collection, “I’m not completely found, but I’m not as lost as I used to be,” contrasts crisply tailored blacks with hot pinks, bejeweled details and billowing tulle. “While I see the collection as a way I could personally heal, I hope that others will find something of themselves in it as well.”

Streamed on YouTube and IGTV (Instagram TV), the fashion design show will feature fashion films showcasing Adams’ and Rubinson’s designs, along with those of fellow seniors Sasha Bash, Lauren McGinnis, Maggie Miller, Mirai Patel, and Genna Torgan. The collections also will be exhibited May 14-22 at the Sam Fox School’s Des Lee Gallery, 1627 Washington Ave.