Kate Carignan
Staff Writer
There aren't many experiences in the world quite like attending the symphony. The gilded wood carvings, marble statues and 50-foot organ pipes adorning Symphony Hall send one on a trip to a time rarely remembered.
As one is immersed in the sound of the orchestra, the smell of old polished wood chairs and their worn leather coverings - the sudden appearance of a women dressed in a floor-length silk gown and hair piled high is a curious surprise. In such a modern time, her appearance makes one think that too much wood polish has been inhaled.
But no she's not just a patron of the orchestra, but a model of the Project Beethoven fashion design competition, sponsored by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), whose every intention it is to intrigue the audience.
Announced in the late summer, Project Beethoven invited unknown designers in the Boston area to submit a design inspired by Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3.
Project Beethoven was preceded by Project Mozart and before that Project Tchaikovsky. The competition begins months in advance of the culminating fashion show which takes place after a concert performed by the BSO, traditionally playing the classical composition that inspires the designers, among other classical pieces.
Aspiring designers from surrounding schools submitted illustrations showing their work, all hoping for a chance to be selected as on of the 10 finalists who would actually create their garment for display at this unique fashion show.
Ashley Boiardi, a senior Framingham State fashion design and retailing major, was one such contestant chosen as a finalist, little did she know that she would be the first Framingham State student to win one of the titles.
Boiardi constructed a gown that flawlessly melded the modern with the classical fashion of Beethoven's time, inspired by the composer himself.
Boiardi said she began the design process in September by researching what Beethoven was doing at her age. During the year of 1792, he had just moved to Vienna, Austria and was making music but was relatively unknown - much like the designer he would be inspiring.
"I began looking at pictures of him and the three key pieces I saw... were his neck scarves ... a strong cranberry color ... [and] a lot of tuxedo coats with the shorter front and longer back," said Boiardi.
During Beethoven's time, gold buttons were very fashionable on tuxedo coats, which is where Boiardi found her inspiration for the intricate gold buttons down the back.
Boiardi's research certainly paid off. She received a call in the late fall from a BSO representative, who congratulated her on her selection as a finalist.
She recalled the day of the phone call and remembers thinking "Oh, I never got an e-mail." A mere hour later, she heard the phone ring.
However, as Boiardi put it, "Now the pressure's really on." She put in over 30 hours of work on her garment, which led up to the piece being showcased at last night's fashion show.
The evening of the show she and Sarah Rogers, the model for the garment and fellow senior fashion design and retailing major, arrived at around 4:00 p.m. and were whisked into the world of runway prep.
After a pre-production meeting followed by a photo session, Boiardi and Rogers readied themselves for the audience.
The runway portion of the show was held in an Annex of Symphony Hall directly after the concert.
With the music still fresh in their minds observers of the event walk down a hall filled with glass cases of antique musical instruments and the design boards and bios of each of the 10 designers.
Entering the room there was a notable hum of excitement as the crowd waited for the show to begin. Among the excited crowd were many members of the Framingham State Community including administrators and professors all there to support Boiardi and showed true pride for their student.
Professor Arlene Handschuch Was one faculty member at the event the garment “appealed to so many people. … Others were beautiful but artsy … and hers was artsy but also very wearable, and I think people related to it, and could see themselves in it,” she said.
Within a few short minutes, the show began and Boiardi’s peace was the first to be shown it was more striking in person than the drawn design was suggested. the hair and makeup were similar to the gown, classical in inspiration, yet modern.
It was a very exciting moment and Boiardi recalls feeling immense Pride seeing her garment on the runway.
“ to see your dress on the runway, to see it on a model and see it fit her well … it was really out of this world to see it all together … I was so proud … that it was really walking down the runway, and you could see all the flashes of the cameras, and the people screaming in the judges. … it was surreal,” she said.
The contestants who followed Boiardi had similar ornate garments, but apparently Boiardi’s was the crowd favorite, because she won the Patron Vote, which was one of the two winning titles, the other being the Judges’ Vote.
“The dresses clearly demonstrated the sound and feeling of Beethoven's music … to watch the top 10 dresses walk down the runway with their designers are waiting the results of the contest you could see where the designers were getting their ideas and Inspirations from,” said Elissa Bordeau, a sophomore business major who attended the event.
Boiardi’s garment, along with the Judges' Vote, Maria Canada from the Rhode Island School of Design, will be displayed for one week in the storefront window of L’Elite Boutique on Newbury Street in Boston.
Boiardi said of her evening at the BSO, “It was almost like I couldn't even smile anymore because it was so crazy … and I looked over at my family and my friends and I just got a big grin on my face. it was awesome.”