Kyndall Bollmeyer knew at a glance that Vincent van Gogh’s “View of Saintes-Maries-de-laMer” painting would be the inspiration for her design for the “Fashion Fusion” show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She fell in love with the purple irises in the painting.

This year, Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art provides the inspiration. In anticipation of the runway show on April 25, we asked participating designer Kyndall Bollmeyer about her expectations and past experiences.

It was a little idea Houston designer and Project Runway winner Chloe Dao and I dreamed up to support and empower emerging fashion designers from Houston Community College and the Houston Art Institute. We wanted to do a simple fashion show to expose Houston to these super talented designers.

The First Online Fashion Archive in Houston, TX USA
The fashion archive is a curated collection of garments from a 6000 piece collection stored at Houston Community College Fashion Department.

And the winners were: Grand Prize went to Shirlette Thompson, who also snagged the People’s Choice Award, for her bright, intricately detailed ruffled dress. Second place was awarded to Kyndall Bollmeyer‘s LED light-strewn design, and Nghi Nguyen captured third with a dramatic winged creation.

​The For The Sake of Art Wearable Art Competition, gives artists and designers the opportunity to create wearable art designs for a juried competition. This year’s offerings were based on some of Oliver’s most memorable paintings.

The recent Museum of Fine Arts, Houston exhibition, Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950, inspired Houston Community College fashion and design students to tap into their creative spirit for the Fashion Fusion 2017 competition, which culminated in a runway show at Cullinan Hall before an excited crowd.

This May, the Museum teamed up with Houston Community College’s award-winning fashion program for the third annual Fashion Fusion event. A competition that culminates in a runway show at the MFAH, Fashion Fusion encourages design students to draw inspiration from an exhibition to create stunning, handmade garments, as well as jewelry and accessories.