Come Back: Jenny Smas Returns to the Runway

For Jenny Smas’ senior prom in Hudson, she didn’t shop at the mall — she designed her own dress. With a halter top featuring a deep V in the front and back, the white stretch jersey dress with a fine-mesh overlay had ruching on the back center seam, a slit and a long train.

“Because of the weight of the knit, it had body and bounce to it, it was light and airy at the same time. It was really ethereal,” she says. “That was the first time where I was like, I have a vision.”

Smas majored in fashion design and fashion merchandising at Kent State University. She went to Kent State’s New York City Fashion program in 2005 and interned at W Magazine’s fashion closet. During a 2005 New York City class, Smas met Cynthia Rowley and revealed she was unsure about continuing with design or just finishing her merchandising degree. It was Rowley who convinced Smas she was a designer — and gave Smas a design internship for 2006.

“With newfound confidence from Cynthia fricking Rowley, I went home with a new vigor and dug into design,” Smas says. She returned to the New York City program in 2007 and did a design internship for Macy’s I.N.C. brand in knits and denim in 2008.

For her senior collection at Kent State, she went with a monochromatic look, mixing masculine architectural detailing with soft, feminine aspects. She crafted a wispy brown dress from a crumpled fabric with tiny wires embedded in it and a racer-back full-length catsuit under semi-sheer blush flowy pants with a sheer billowy jacket. Plus, she made a two-piece look — a gauzy asymmetrical off-the-shoulder overdress with hand-cut paillettes cascading down the angled bottom. Finally, she created a two-piece silk jersey racer-back, mock-turtleneck dress that used wiry horsehair in the hem of the top layer to create structure.

Smas worked in New York City for about 18 years. In 2010, she helped launch a Kensie legwear brand at Lord & Taylor while working for Planet Sox. In 2013, she worked for Leg Resource, for which her designs for Betsey Johnson and Anna Sui were shown at New York Fashion Week. Her designs were also featured in Women’s Wear Daily. She helped launch Majesty Brands, a legwear company, in 2014. Smas has been working at New York City’s Crest Mills for over 10 years. Now, she works for Crest Mills remotely from her Coventry home, where she designs throws and blankets for Rachel Roy, TJ Maxx, Elle Décor and more. She also does graphic design through her Studio 1023 business.

At Jazmine Fischer-Veal’s Experience: the Runway from New York to Akron fashion show in March, she debuted her new collection, Le Geste Retenu — which means restrained gesture in French — under her TEN23 Atelier label.

“It’s taking notes from classic couture, French fashion technique and beautiful fabrications like brocade and lamés,” she says. “A huge part of this collection is playing with proportions, mixing and matching silhouettes.”

For her first look, she hand-pieced Mood Fabric’s brocade to create a jacket that goes with a hand-draped pink duchess satin flowy skirt and a matching bralette bustier covered in a beaded, sequined mesh.

Next, a black Mikado bustier with 3D shoulder straps pairs with matching high-waisted barrel trousers. A similar look features white barrel trousers and a sheer glittery crop top that flutters open in the back.

A sheer burnout brocade lamé shines in a structured two-piece edgy-elegant dress that balloons out at the hips with a structured, graded hem. “The body of it, plus the sheer pieces and the shimmer when she moved — it was really magical,” Smas says.

Dior’s new look inspired her brocade peplum bustier with a two-piece layered skirt with fluted edges. Her niece modeled her final look, a Parisian-inspired voluminous layered skirt with black-and-white striped panels, a black corset and a black half jacket with an artistic white godet.

It’s been about 17 years since she’s designed clothing, so Smas cried when she saw her looks on the runway.

“This is a relaunch,” she says. “Jazmine lit a fire under me, and now I’m like, OK, what’s next?”

jstudio1023.com