Usually when one goes to school for a botany degree, the science study of plants, they go on to be a scientist, work in a tropical rainforest or farm, or be a … botanist.  Imagine that.  But Sarah Nassif took a very different direction and used her expert botanist knowledge to start her own fashion line, “Rectangle Designs – Botanically Inspired Fashion.” 

Nassif “put aside a scientific career and opted to use her botany degree as inspiration for her original textile motifs: a modern take on leaves, prairie flora, and trees created from her photographs of the Midwest and beyond.”  With American Apparel fabrics as the canvas, Nassif uses entirely eco-friendly techniques to create and print her designs: water based inks and environmentally sensitive production methods.  Her items are sold only at selective boutiques and museums in the Minneapolis area, as well as, online at Etsy. 

 

The University of Minnesota’s annual Senior Fashion Show: Exposed, is set for February 6th, 2010.  The show features designs from the University of Minnesota’s seniors in fashion design.  The show will take place in Rapson Hall, as it did last year.  In review of 2009′s show, “This annual runway show features work by 12 up-and-coming designers graduating from the clothing design program who are ready to make their mark on what we wear.”  Having attended last year, this show is not one to miss – with the intelligent and inspiring designs coming from U of M’s own.  The design school is planning to have the show’s official website complete within the next couple weeks, where you can get a sneak peek at the designers, inspirations for their work, and additional details.

And let’s not forget, Halloween is this Saturday.  If you haven’t gotten your haunted experience that you’ve been anticipating yet, check out Soap Factory’s Haunted Basement.  This is the exhibition’s final week and when they say “dare you descend below?”, they mean it.  The scare factor is certainly present and is well worth the $15 admission weekdays and $20 on weekends.  “Visitors can look forward to an entirely new underworld, with environments by guest artists, and revolting and assaulting odors manufactured specially for the Haunted Basement by a local scent company.”  For a chilling experience, complete with a soundtrack of actual recordings done by the Paranormal Society at the Soap Factory itself, head on over to the uniquely haunting, Haunted Basement.