Tanyka Trotman’s Senior Collection
By: Karli Banas
Tanyka’s collection is inspired by Disney villains and the Met Gala. She feels Disney villains dress well, but their clothing is often overlooked by their wicked actions. She wanted to tie them with the Met Gala, since it has had so many unorthodox themes throughout the years. She felt the villains and the gala complemented each other well.
Her favorite looks from her collection are her purple dress with a slit and a cape, and the black sweetheart pencil dress with a black train of feathers. Tanyka feels they really stand out from the rest of her collection.
In the future, she sees herself either selecting fabric or designing clothing. She feels she has the right skillset to decide what type of fabrics would work best for certain designs. She also likes to let her creativity flow and create new designs and bring new concepts into her designs.
The hardest part for Tanyka of making her collection was time management. She really had to plan out when she was going to complete the tasks that needed to be done in order to meet the deadlines. She also spent much time making sure the prototypes fit the model and dress form, so that she wouldn’t have to go back and make changes.
The target market of her collection is adults aged 25-40. She describes her designs are clean and stylish. Celebrities and those who attend the Met Gala on a regular basis are who her collection is targeted towards.
Tanyka’s design aesthetic combines casual with fancy and glamorous elements. She likes to take simple designs and make them more interesting with features like slits and extravagant detailing. She wants her designs to turn heads and attract attention.
Her favorite part of the design process was making the clothing and seeing it come together. She likes seeing how a simple idea can become reality through the multi-step process.
Tanyka feels the Fashion Design department has helped her by accommodating her busy sports schedule and giving her the opportunity to go back and fix her work. She also praised her professors for always being available to offer help outside of class and for answering her many questions.
If presented with the opportunity to design for a celebrity or public figure, Tanyka would choose Rihanna because she feels Rihanna is a style icon and makes everything she wears look great. She also admires Issa Rae and Yara Shahidi for their style and appearances. In terms of male celebrities, she would choose someone musical like Bruno Mars or Anderson Paak. She feels Mars has his own aesthetic that stands out from others. She likes that he wears a lot of 70s/80s inspired pieces.
Tanyka prefers to get inspiration from the world around her rather than designers. She decides how she wants to fit in or stand out from the world around her. When she does occasionally look to designers, she prefers Virgil Abloh and a little Gucci and Versace. She sees fashion as being much more than the popular, big-name brands.