TMFD alum Audio Helkuik featured on Omaha Fashion Week runway

20 Sep 2012    

                        Audio Helkuik on the runway after her show at Omaha Fashion Week 2012.   
                       Photo credits: G Thompson Higgins Gallery.      

Recently, Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design alumna Audio Helkuik participated in Omaha Fashion for the fourth time, introducing her latest collection entitled “monoprismatic.”  TMFD (Communications) major Averi Melcher caught up with her to talk about her designs, inspiration, and current projects:

            Like her previous collections, “monoprismatic” was part of the avant-garde show, but this year she decided to step out of her niche of dark colored garments and push her designs to a new level by utilizing fabrics that were saturated in an array of colors.  Wonderful monochromatic ensembles in bright blues, reds, and yellows resulted from her efforts. To complete the look, Audio topped them with one-of-a-kind hats and over-sized, thick-rimmed glasses.  She mentioned that these outfits were also very wearable, with pieces like denim shorts, leggings, and shirts, as opposed to a more costumed approach as she had done in the past.  “I wanted to create pieces that would become someone’s everyday favorites instead of a special occasion favorite,” she said.

            Audio Helkuik is evolving as a designer and is very aware of how fabrics and silhouettes work on a person’s body. In fact, she said that she spent a lot of time working on making flattering garments that would work on both male and female body types for the androgynous micro-collection that she created during her senior year in Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design at UNL.  The lessons about fabric selection and fabric care during her time there stayed with her. She is currently trying to put more focus on pre-construction fabric handling and aims to offer high quality pieces that are machine-washable, as opposed to dry-clean only. 

Audio hanging out at an Omaha Fashion Week photoshoot. Left:  Nick Watson, model for Audio Helkuik, center: Audio Helkuik, right: Karah Linn, model for Dan Richters, wearing what Audio describes as “one of his sci-fi otherworldy outfits.  I like to call this photo Observing Humans.”  Photo credits: Dan Richters.

            Audio says that lately her time is split pretty evenly between clothing/ accessory design, and “costuming.”  She currently works as the interim Costume Studio Manager at a college theater department, where she uses hands-on training to teach students about costume construction.  She has worked with this theater before and decided that having a team of helpers in a creative environment and designing costumes would be a nice change of pace from the runway show setting.

            However, she did tell us that she is continuing to work on a new line and will probably participate in Omaha Fashion Week again in the future.  “Seeing your own work out on the runway is so exhilarating,” she commented, “I will definitely continue producing clothing/accessories collections.  I always start planning four or five different collections while finishing up my current one.  I like looking ahead and daydreaming about future projects.”

            Audio finished our interview by offering a piece of advice to current Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design students: “You must make your education and your work your own.”  She never worked at another fashion house, but was still able to have a full resume before graduation – just by searching for internships and job opportunities that worked for her.  “If you put a lot into it, you will get a lot out of it,” she said.

                     A work in progress – Audio in the studio working on a pair of red denim coveralls                        that were in her monoprismatic collection at Omaha Fashion Week 2012.

            We look forward to seeing where Audio’s creativity will lead her next, and will be following her at @audiohelkuik and on Facebook.  You can also see some backstage and in-progress pictures of her current projects on her blog, www.audiohelkuik.com, and purchase her designs at www.audiohelkuik.etsy.com.

- contributed by Averi Melcher