Embark on a dreamlike odyssey in Escalate, a high-concept fashion film in which SCAD alumni designs evoke world-changing social, cultural, and political figures in a lush alternate universe — with a vision of a more inclusive future.

Directed by Chris Anthony Hamilton with transcendent choreography by celebrated dancer T. Lang and music composed by cellist-songwriter Okorie Johnson (OkCello), Escalate showcases extraordinary garments created for the SCAD Changemakers Alumni Design Challenge. Envisioned by SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace and juried by Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter — whose monumental exhibition “Afrofuturism in Costume Design” at SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film earned high praise from Whitewall and Hyperallergic — the challenge invited exceptional alumni from the university’s top-ranked School of Fashion to design futuristic fashions evoking history-changing leaders, inspired by Carter’s iconic work for film. Garments pay tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malcolm X, David Bowie, Semiha Berksoy, Fela Kuti, Elaine Brown, and Stokely Carmichael, among others.

Filmed on-site at SCAD Atlanta, the film demonstrates the imagination, ingenuity, and exceptional talents of students and alumni from SCAD’s globally recognized degree programs and centers the university’s role as a performing arts incubator for the Atlanta creative community. 

Credits

Directed by
Chris Anthony Hamilton

Executive Producer
Paula Wallace, SCAD President and Founder

Producers
Glenn Wallace (SCAD Chief Operating Officer; SCAD B.F.A., interior design, 1996)
Chris Anthony Hamilton
Eric Breen (SCAD B.F.A., film and television, 1997)
Walker Dalton
Drew Brown
McKenzie Lynah (SCAD M.A., art history, 2018; M.A., arts administration, 2014)

Casting by
SCAD Casting Office