This year's annual Wearable Art Show was a night to remember.

Put on by second year fashion merchandising students, at the London Music Hall, this year's theme was Futuristic, and I have to say based on that night, the future is looking pretty good.

First of all, I would like to say congratulations to all involved in the production of the show. It was incredibly organized, esthetically appealing, entertaining and successful. I have been to a few fashion shows put on by the fashion merchandising team at the London Music Hall, and I believe this year's show was by far the biggest turnout. The place was packed, there was hardly an empty seat and the atmosphere was just buzzing with anticipation.

The show is sort of a year-end final project for students in their second and final year. They are tasked to either put on the Re-Vamped show in the fall, or the Wearable Art Show in the spring. Garments are then designed by either merchandising students or fashion design students, and can be made out of anything under the stars — preferably recycled materials. The garments are more avant-garde and pieces of art rather than clothing.

Proceeds of the show go to charity, and this year the show collaborated with a new charity sponsor: Itsy. Itsy is a charitable organization that supports families who have infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Joseph's Hospital in London. During the intermission of the show, we were lucky enough to meet some of the families who are benefited by Itsy as they walked down the runway and shared their stories.

The garments created for the show were breathtakingly beautiful, and I was extremely impressed by the efforts of my fellow students and friends. It was so inspiring to see the different interpretations of the futuristic fashion, but there were many common elements throughout the night.

The proportions were the most important part of the garments. There were drastic spikes, large shoulders, long tails and back appliqués, and lots of cinched waists paired with huge hips. I saw a few caged outfits, using wire and metal, as well as chains. There was tinfoil, tulle, and tons of silver elements. The dresses included large additions in the strangest places; humpbacks and shoulder pads and even accentuated busts. Recycled materials were definitely present with bubble wrap used many times as well as candy wrappers, pieces of broken mirrors, tissue paper and newspapers. Duct tape was also popular, appearing in various colours including orange as it was used on the third place-winning garment designed by Sam Sims, who also used old receipts from the restaurant she works at as the skirt portion of her dress.

The models were robotic coming down the runway, like the silver mannequins hiding in the streamers on stage. Ponytails were sleek, and the makeup was done to create faux shading on their faces; they looked fierce, edgy and completely sold the outfits to the crowd. The whole time I couldn't help but think Lady Gaga would be honoured to wear any of these glamorous pieces.

As I watched the show, several garments stuck out as deserving attention from the judges and one particular piece caught my eye as my favourite of the evening. This was a dress designed by Jessie Cook and Katie Fyfe, both second year merchandising students, who created a gown out of recycled newspaper and sequins. It looked extremely well done and stood out, so I was most pleased when it was chosen as first place winner. Not only was it a beautiful piece; the girls had good reasons as to why they chose this design and how it relates to the theme Futuristic. Created with recycled Interrobang newspapers, the inspiration was the hope of an earthfriendly future, said Cook.

I had a quick word with some of the merchandising girls backstage in between sets. I asked why exactly this show brought such a huge crowd, and the answers made me proud of Fanshawe's students. The dedication to the show went beyond grades. The students really put their hearts into it, spreading the word through any means and getting friends and family to come out and support. The enthusiasm paid off, the crowd was ecstatic and tons of money was raised.

All in all, the night was of immense success. This was a job well done for our soon to be graduating future fashion designers.