'Alice in Wonderland' meets 'Project Runway' at FIDM

"Project Runway" alum Nick Verreos was the Mad Hatter master of ceremonies at the "Alice in Wonderland" exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, which held its opening gala Wednesday night (May 26).

Check out his red carpet interview with Zap2it, in which he chats about the FIDM Super Lab he mentored -- in which six FIDM grads who had to design red carpet couture gowns inspired by characters from Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland."

He also discusses "Project Runway" -- whether or not he'd be interested in doing the reality show again and how he has more sympathy for Tim Gunn's role on the show.

The madcap Verreos:



Before presenting the FIDM grads' "Alice" creations, he also decided to break in the runway:



The Alice gown:

Dominique Pearl David's vision of the oversized loop on the bow (constructed with the help of Lowe's Home Improvement) and the telescoping layers of the skirt, all made from one piece of fabric, is a nod to Alice constantly shrinking into her oversized clothes in the film.

The Tweedledum and Tweedledee gowns:

Natalia Romano's gowns play off the stripes from the film's characters. The editorial hair and makeup finishes the twins-y look.

The White Rabbit dress:

Airi Isoda goes for a short, mod look with the faux fur dress with blue accents and a "pocketwatch" purse. Model Laura LaRue tells Zap2it that the eyelashes are particularly distracting because they're always in her field of vision.

The Cheshire Cat gown:

Kapasa Musonda's color palette of blues and gunmetal meld together to represent the cat's penchant for disappearing.

The Mad Hatter gown:

The burnt oranges of Angela Avanesyan's design is a nod to Johnny Depp's character's hair, while the loops are inverted "hats."

The Red Queen gown:

Clay Sadler's showstopper anchored the mini fashion show with the attention-getting, volume-hogging dress with a heart-shaped silhouette.

Verreos shares a bit more about what he thought about the grads' designs, how he was inspired and Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, who created all the outfits in the film.



Following the runway portion of the evening, guests listened to a three-song set by Kerli, a singer Tim Burton specifically requested for the "Alice" soundtrack and then made their way to the other parts of the exhibition indoors.

The display includes several of Colleen Atwood's designs including Alice's various gowns, her armor, the Hatter's fighting outfit and various Red Queen courtier's gowns:

Also, the "Edgier Side of Alice," has contemporary designs inspired by "Alice," dreamed up by Avril Lavigne, Sue Wong and Tom Binns.

The entire "Alice" exhibition will be on display from May 27-Sept. 30 at Los Angeles' FIDM museum in downtown.

Coincidentally, Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" reached $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales on Thursday, May 27. The British lass will try her hand at conquering DVD sales when it hits shelves on Tuesday, June 1.

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Photo credits: Zap2it, Berliner Photography/BEImages