Avant-Garde: The Fashion and Art Society: Georgia Tech Atlanta

Georgia Tech Avant-Garde: Leaders, Followers, Supporters

We're working on Avant-Garde for the 2011-2012 school year... we're gonna bring things to never before seen official places.

So if you're a Georgia Tech Student or Alumni (or Atlanta student) that wants to get involved in fashion, art, design, culture, etc email: gtavantgarde (at) gmail (dot) com.

We need leaders, followers are cool, we need you guys too, but we Need leaders...

We also need supporters, if you're a GT alum that is doing big things creatively, please reach out to us, we want to chat, connect, all that good stuff... and if you're up to it, we want to feature you on here as well.

So, again... email us GTavantgarde (at) gmail (dot) com.

We are Atlanta's Fashion, Style, Design, and Future.

We Need You: Avant-Garde Future Leaders

The remaining first generation avant-garde members are about to graduate, that means we're looking for some fresh meat to take over soon. We need some cool kids or (wannabe cool kids, lol) to continue the Avant-Garde Legacy. Ya think ya have what it takes? We think, if you're here reading this, then chances are you do.

Okay so here's the deal:

Responsibilities are fairly slim for the upcoming school year:

- For fall, help AG members and AG alum plan EclecTech

- For spring, partner with another GT organization to create a spring fashion show (list of recommended partnering organizations will be provided)

- Organize monthly outings to anywhere arts/fashion/or creative related (i.e museum, restaurant, fashion show, boutique, theater, movie) -OR- attend a GT event or party (as the AG representative) and take some pictures

- be a GT socialite and style reporter of sorts

- update the blog every now and then

(you have free creative reins to plan as you wish)

If you're interested reply below and/or send an email to GTavantgarde (at) gmail (dot) com

We need your...

1. Name:
2. Email:
3. Phone number:
4. Major:
5. Classification:
6. Expected graduation:
7. Answer this: Why do you want to be involved with Avant-Garde? (in a paragraph or more)

*feel free to email us your number if you want, also let us know if you have text and what's the best time to call (we obviously will email you before calling).

An interest in the arts, design, entertainment, or fashion is preferred but not required.

Great opportunity for anyone :

1. wanting to diversify their college experience -or-
2. planning to possibly purse an arts/style/entertainment career during/after college
-or-
3. wanting to be an influencer or leader on GT's campus and in Atlanta

We can't wait to hear from you!

Nice Photos

A few recent photos taken by former VP of the Photography Society- Jonathan Garza.

photos from our Red Dress Fashion Show last year (sponsored by the Women's Resource Center and Avant-Garde), we directed the styling and Samuel and his Paul Mitchell Hair School team executed hair and makeup perfectly! Photography by Sadatk from the GT Photography Club.

The GTGs: Georgia Tech Rappers... corny, but cool.

Georgia Tech has some of most hilarious people you will meet on Earth- seriously... This hilariousness is exemplified and proven when watching videos by the "GTGs". Who are these guys you may ask? Well they're management majors who happened to produce a youtube video that was hit... and now they have a whole slew of videos. Now some of you freshman may be like "gtgs" ? huh? what's a gtg... well back in the day Georgia Tech students are identified by a number gtg###(letter) for example- gtg139y. The last incoming freshmen class with gtg was in 2004, the incoming 2005 freshmen were gth, then the 2006 freshmen were given their first letter of there first name, last name and a digit, for example: Jane Burdell- jburdell3... and that continues today. Though many students sometimes complained about being quantified with a number, it was a tradition that they sorta kinda secretly liked... meaning they felt it was a rites of passage that made you a true georgia tech student... plus its so much easier, catchy, and simple. Oh and let's not forget the gt#### ex: gt2876e from back baaack in the day, I'm not sure when they stopped, but I suppose they had those in the 90s.

Check out the videos of the GTGs:

"M-Train"

"Perfect Option"

"The Ratio"

These videos are funny... the m-train video is a bit offensive because its not that easy.
But overall good laughs.

Famous Georgia Tech Alumni: The Official List

Have you ever wondered who the famous Georgia Tech Alumni are? I have so I searched and found a list and decided to post- feel free to add to it in the comment sections.

List of Famous Georgia Tech Alumni

Jimmy Carter, President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Kary Mullis, Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry
(college of mgt famous alumni)
Charles Betty- CEO Earthlink
David Dorman- CEO AT&T Corporation
Mike Duke- CEO of Walmart
James Robinson III- CEO American Express (Director of The Coca-Cola Company)

Ivan Allen Jr- Atlanta major

(okay this list is boring and those people are famous in their own circles, okay let me get to the famous people that you may actually know)

Jeff Foxworthy- Blue Collar Comedy Tour
Mark Lee- christian band, Third Day
John Salley- The Best Damn Sports Show Period (played for the LA Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Chicago Bulls), he's also currently on this summer's hit reality show "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here"
Randolph Scott- old actor

(hmmm, i suppose those weren't any better)

We obviously have a ton of "famous" tech athletes-- or alum who have made it to the major league NFL, NBA, MLB, Olympics, etc.... but there are just too many to name.

Okay let's do a new list of famous Georgia Tech Alumni, known in 2009

Jimmy Carter
John Salley
Jeff Foxworthy
Vern Yip

name more by leaving comments, thanks :)

Express Yourself at Georgia Tech in the Media

In the one year we've been around we've had a chance to connect with alot of the creative techies... two groups that come in mind are WREK Radio and the ERATO.

Last year, thanks to AG member Justina Best (and Kirk Neville) we were able to secure a spot on Wrek Radio- Tech Talks (Thursdays). The then President- Cindy and VP of the Greater Arts- Jerry were able to tell GT and Atlanta about Tech's hautest organization.

Members of Erato (Tech's literary magazine) also supported Avant-Garde by coming to events, they even cited poetry at 2008's End of the Year celebration- thanks guys.

But this post isn't just to give shout-outs... we want to highlight the other creative outlets for those who like to express themselves with words- whether it be vocal or written.

Georgia Tech Media Outlets:

Wrek Radio 91.1- aka "wreck radio"
The Technique- Georgia Tech's campus newspaper

The Hueman Press- Georgia Tech's BSO (Black Student Organizations) newspaper, founded by AASU- African American Student Union.

The North Avenue Review- Georgia Tech's free speech newspaper

The Erato- Georgia Tech's literary magazine (poetry, short stories, etc.)

GTCN- Georgia Tech Cable Network , WREK FM plays on channel 17 and student-generated content and recent movies are on channels 20 and 21

Dreams Coming Into Fruition: Georgia Tech Alumni Paving the Way in Design and Entertainment

One of the purposes of Avant-Garde is to bring together creative thinkers on campus... to gather the students who could have easily gone to SCAD, Parsons, or St.Martins in London but instead chose to become a yellow jackets and one helluva engineer :) But with the decision to become a yellow jacket usually comes a harder road to expressing ones creativity and truly following ones passion. And some, though they want to be actors or artist or designers, often opt to utilize the degree they worked hard for and become engineers or consultants or technical specialist of sorts.

Avant-Garde offers to counteract that- we want to expose ourselves to things relevant to our studies and major as well as things that we feel very passionate about. And we hope to one day create a huge network (which we are currently building) of Georgia Tech Alumni that chose creative paths, alternative paths... and we aren't just talking about architects.

This spring/summer Georgia Tech Alumni and Tech Topics highlighted alumni that have made it in the industry and those that are climbing the ladder to success.

1. Jessica Luza (STaC 07)
2. Clint Zeagler (ID 04)
3. Vern Yip (MS Mgt 94, M Arch 95)

Jessica Luza does the The Hills Fashion Wrap-Up on MTV. She moved to LA two days after she graduated and, besides doing The Hills, works part-time with a graphics playback company that does computer graphics for television shows like CSI, Dexter and Lost. Oh and she can be found doing plays, tv shows, and made for tv movies in her other spare time. She was in "What Goes Around: a film shot in Jackson, GA during her senior tear at Tech (it was released in April).

Clint Zeagler launched his clothing line Pecan Pie Couture in 2006, and has been twice voted Best Local Designer by the readers of Atlanta's Creative Loafing newspaper, and in 2007 he was named one of The Atlantan magazine's Men of Style. His journey? Well after graduating from Tech in 04 he studied fashion design in Italy's fashion capital, Milan, and received a master's in fashion design from Domus Academy. Clint even returned to Tech in spring 2007 to teach a course on wearable designs in the College of Architecture's industrial design program.

Vern Yip... this guy needs no bio, but we'll give it anyway. He has a bachelor of arts degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from The University of Virginia (UVA), then he attended The Georgia Institute of Technology (our beloved Tech) and received a MBA and a Master or Architecture degree.... clearly the man is smart.

We all know him most notably from TLC's Trading Spaces, but it's also hard to miss him NBC's Home Intervention and HGTV's "Deserving Design". He runs his own design company in Atlanta, Vern Yip Designs and vernyip.com. He's one a ton of awards and has been seen in many publications.

Check out their articles- click to enlarge

saying thanks

we want to give thanks to avant-garde members that have stood out in the 2008-2009 academic school year. these guys have gone above and beyond sacrificing time and always willing to help. thank-a-yooousss!

kalin pennington- vice president
keegan ross

notable standouts of the spring 2008:
chanee jackson, ashley white, justine best, romanda powers

we want to thank ALL the executive board members- we couldn't do it without you all!

special shout out to Mirielle Murad of Element Model Management, Paul Mitchell Hair School, GT Photo Club, and TEKStyles for ALWAYS showing Avant-Garde love!

EclecTech by Georgia Tech Avant-Garde

Combining all the creative georgia tech nerds makes for a sensational evening...
as expected:

bands
dancing
food
art
fashion
photography
dj

This is Avant Garde's Annual Fall Event

Our Fabulous Vice President and President

Kalin P. & Erin M.

Special kudos to President Erin McClendis!

Georgia Tech Avant-Garde: End of the Year Celebration

In its first semester Avant-Garde unexpectedly* became the hottest new group on campus, we were invited to do events and fashion shows with several organizations including, but not limited to: The Women's Resource Center, Students for Sustainability, AASU African American Student Union, The GT Photo Club, GT Student Center Programs, GT Craft Center, GT College of Management, and more. The 2008 Spring semster was a big hit and we planned to end it with a grand Gala- that was suppose take place in GT's historic Britain Dining Hall (yeah we think Outside of the box), but with time beating us- it was postponed then replaced with a quaint yet cool Celebration... complete with art, fashion, photography, music, food, poetry, dancing, and more.

Location: Under the Couch
Our food was catered by Calypso Cafe- Atlanta's best Jamaican food
We had photo shoots before, a cool rock band, djs, spoken word and poetry, then we ended the night with breakdancing... it was the PERFECT way to end a stressful Georgia Tech school year.