Fashionable experiences

Fashion was in the air last week, with Phoenix Fashion Week and Arizona Bridal Week taking over the Valley. Several of Kristen Johnson's EVIT fashion students got hands-on experience working with designers during their shows, while others attended a show as VIP members of the audience.

Alex Lockhart and Lucy Rodriguez, both second year students in Johnson's morning class, helped Jennyvi Dizon during her Arizona Bridal Week show at the Sanctuary on Camelback Resort in Scottsdale on Thursday.

Alex and Lucy helped dress models for the show, show guests around and answer questions.

"It was a great experience," Lucy said.

Lucy is hoping to design her own line one day, while Alex plans to work on the business side of fashion.

Four other students (Brisa French, Kelsey Hoyer, Luz Ibanez and Marissa Chvarak) helped dress models during a "Designer of the Year" show at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday.

And, as always, the fashion students were busy conjuring up their own designs last week. Their assignment was to choose a designer they admired and create a garment that could fit into that designer's collection, while also adding a bit of their own flair into it. Students chose a variety of popular designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Liz Claiborne and Kimora Lee Simmons.

Here are the creations of the morning class:

And the afternoon class: