Curated by Cal Poly FITS
As we know, photographs tell stories. Behind each image lies a tapestry of creativity, collaboration, and meticulous planning. On SLO’s very own Cal Poly campus, the talented minds in our community have been orchestrating visual magic.
Today, we look to step into the world behind the lens and uncover the unseen efforts that transformed everyday materials into stunning visual narratives.
I am joined by FITS Co-Presidents, Komo Assi and Rachel Leong, to give us some insight into what they’ve been working on.
Kiana: To start off, for those who are not familiar, can you give us an idea of who FITS is?
Komo & Rachel: FITS (Fashion, Innovation, Trendsetting, and Styling) is a fashion club on campus that specializes in industry skills and professional development! We host workshops, photoshoots, career panels and networking events, themed socials, and an annual fashion show (with our sister club SFC, Sustainable Fashion Club).
K&R: We offer so many workshops ranging from cyanotype to polymer clay to crochet to machine sewing. These workshops are welcome to students of all experience levels. Specifically during winter quarter, our workshops are tailored to prepare prospective designers for the fashion show during spring quarter. This includes but is not limited to: pattern-making, beginner and intermediate machine sewing, and designer brainstorms.
K&R: We work hard to create an environment that fosters creativity through inclusivity and accessibility by catering our workshops and events towards all experience levels, degrees and identities. The creative industry is notoriously full of gate-keepers, and we want to end this cycle because imagination and innovation cannot flourish within a bubble. Representation is so important to us because we want to challenge the traditional narrative that currently dominates art and fashion by amplifying diverse voices and talent. Let’s make this clear: this is a space for everyone!
K&R: We are so grateful to have this creative foundation that took blood, sweat, and tears to build – shoutout to the past three years of FAST board members who have brought us to this point. By the way, some people might know us as FAST (Fashion and Student Trends), which is the name we’ve gone by for the past three years before we decided to rebrand.
K: I love the efforts you all have put in to change this narrative within our community. I’ve really enjoyed the workshops I’ve attended this quarter. It’s a wonderful way to meet others with similar interests and I’ve often seen familiar faces at each event–really fun. So then, what is “Wreck the Studio” about?
K&R: Great to hear you enjoyed! FITS hosts a quarterly photoshoot, with each having its own prompt for three teams to interpret and pursue. This quarter was actually our first ever shoot, and it went even better than we anticipated. The prompt was “Wreck the Studio”, where the only requirement was to shoot in a Cal Poly studio. The interpretations were incredible: one was shot in the CAED Photo Lab, the second was at the Art & Design Photography/Video Lab, and the third was shot outside a CAED architecture studio.
K&R: The prompts for future shoots will be a bit less broad, and we’ll allow the leaders of each team to determine their own shoot location and concepts. The only catch is that we will not be repeating photographers or creative directors for the same role, just to make sure we maximize the amount of artists receiving exposure. So, for example, this quarter’s photographers cannot photograph next quarter, but they can be creative directors.
K: That sounds like a great way to diversify the field and provide so many students with opportunities! How and why did you all choose to partake in a quarterly photoshoot?
K&R: Yeah, our goal is to create a professional photoshoot environment where FITS provides individuals interested in pursuing fashion and creative careers a chance to gain professional experience. Specifically, the roles that we look for are: photography, creative design, set design, lighting design, styling, hair, makeup, and modeling. FITS also aims to help all artists involved gain exposure through this photoshoot. For example, some photographers shot in a studio setting for the first time, student-made clothing and accessories were styled and debuted on models, and set designers conjured other-worldly landscapes to welcome alien-like creatures. Our student community is brimming with creative visual talent, and what better way to showcase this than through a photoshoot?
K: What an awesome idea! I know that, as a creative, I’ve always been so grateful for the environment .wav fosters and creates when it comes to opportunities to create and collaborate. Similarly, having been fortunate enough to work with you all on Wreck the Studio, I know that I and others were very grateful for, not only this type of opportunity, but how well-organized/designed it was.
K&R: We’re so glad! It seems like we’ve fulfilled that goal and overall, Wreck the Studio was a huge success. Leading up to the shoots, we saw so much excitement, and afterwards, we received much gratitude from all the teams. It seems Wreck the Studio carried a lot of value for everyone involved, both professional and personal.
K: I was fortunate enough to be chosen to work with you all on this project, but I’m curious, what was the selection process like? Who can apply?
K&R: We sent out an open call for individuals interested in any of the below roles to welcome creatives of all talents, backgrounds and experiences. FITS chose and paired together photographers and creative directors based on the compatibility of their art styles and self-described approaches to their art. So to clarify, selection was not based on skill level, but rather on the potential genius that would result from their pairings. From there, each team of creative directors and photographers chose their members from a compiled list of talent from the open call. We chose to let them choose their own members so everything would be curated to their visions.
K: As someone who was present at the shoots, it seemed to go really well! How did it feel like it went from your end?
K&R: Amazingly!! So many connections were made, and we noticed that people left each shoot feeling confident and happy. It was such a sweet experience; everyone was so talented, kind and welcoming. You could see the excitement radiating off of every team member. We were both involved in shoots in one way or another, and we came out of this process with new friends and knowledge. This utter excitement and surplus of talent can be felt in the resulting beautiful photos. If you haven’t seen the results yet, catch them in Zine 07 with much more insight from the photographers and the creative directors themselves.
K: Well, I cannot wait to show what came out of this series. For those reading, you’ll be able to find more insight and footage about these final shots in Zine 07, and if you are looking to participate in one of these shoots, keep an eye on the FITS insta!
K&R: Do that! Also, FOLLOW US to stay in touch with our future projects, workshops, events that YOU can be a part of! @fitsatslo
Kiana Ansari is our Director of Operations. She conducted the interview and created the art. Kiana Ansari, Annika Norquist, and Henry Ludlow took the photographs.
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