Sheridan’s glass legacy on display at the Glass Fashion Show

What happens when the haute couture of a runway fashion show is made not of fabric, but of something unlikely: glass? You get a remarkable display of artistry, and a powerful tool for creativity and storytelling.

Laura Donefer, Jin Won Han and Natalie Rebmann, are glass artists whose work spans generations. But they are connected by more than their passion for glass and their work in the recent Glass Fashion Show – they also share a connection to Sheridan and the legacy of Sheridan's glass program. 

The Glass Fashion Show was part of the Glass Art Society Conference in Corning, NY from June 3-7. The show coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Corning Museum of Glass, and is one of the most significant international events in the field of glass art. This was the 17th edition of the show, bringing more than 100 talented artists together from all over the world. That included Donefer, Han and Rebmann, who had the chance to explore their passion as working artists and contribute their skills and ideas to a large collective of glass artists who use their creativity as a way to connect and tell their stories. The legacy of the Glass Fashion Show and Sheridan’s glass program reflect the strength of this community, built through a shared passion for glass. 

The creator 

Laura Donefer, the creator and curator of the Glass Fashion Show, and an internationally respected, award-winning glass artist, graduated from Sheridan’s Craft and Design program in 1985, then taught in the program from 1985-1990. Her childhood - full of creativity, play and dress-up parties - was the inspiration that led her to create her first Glass Fashion Show in 1989, which included her students from Sheridan. Her “outrageous idea” – to create a fashion show where the models created and wore their own glass costumes – was a huge success that has now become a 37-year tradition and one of the most beloved events of the glass world. 

“From the very beginning, I wanted the Glass Fashion Show to be a safe place where any glass artist, no matter what shape or colour or age or gender, could create something outside of the comfort zone of their everyday studio practice, and strut their stuff on the catwalk, surrounded by an adoring, accepting and excited glass family,” Donefer says. “(It’s) an inclusive, entertaining celebration that showcases the passion we all have for glass, and for each other." 

Each fashion show is a labour of love for Donefer, as she coordinates hundreds of people over hundreds of hours to create her version of performance art, held in locations around the world. The shows have become an institution in the glass community, with thousands of artists participating over the past three and a half decades. The artists commit to making their wearable art in their spare time, sometimes taking years to fabricate one costume, and eagerly anticipate the next show. “I feel shaky with pride when I think of the place that these unique performances have made in glass history.”  

The instructor

Jin Won Han has been an instructor in Sheridan’s glass art program since 2017 but she first got involved in the Glass Fashion Show in 2012. She knew immediately that she wanted to create work specifically for the show one day. 

"I have long been interested in wearable art...by how objects worn on the body could become extensions of identity and storytelling,” Han said. “What I love most about Laura’s Glass Fashion Show is its openness. It is not about haute couture in the traditional sense. It is playful, experimental, and deeply rooted in materiality. It transforms glass into wearable storytelling rather than static object-making.” 

“It was a beautiful moment of connection across generations...witnessing how our shared passion for glass continues to bring people together.”

– Jin Won Han, Sheridan instructor

She participated for the first time in 2016, and again in 2026. This year, two recent graduates were also accepted into the show, and she supported them while also creating her own work.

Han spent more than two years creating her design, Ego Suit, for the show. The piece, built from mirrored glass spheres that spread across the body, represents the idea of the ego as something you can physically wear and move through. The varying sizes of the spheres reflect the inflation and deflation of self-esteem, and the wearer becomes both observer and observed. Han says the process of creation was a journey of experimentation, trial and error, and countless obstacles, where hours of work can shatter or crack in seconds.

“By the time I stepped onto the runway, I felt like a runner approaching the finish line of a marathon,” she recalls. "The process of reaching that moment had become far more precious than the event itself. On the runway, I was not anxious – I was simply enjoying the moment and celebrating the journey.” 

The student 

Natalie Rebmann, who graduated from the Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design (Glass) program in 2025, was one of Han’s students. Rebmann began her fashion show ensemble – a wedding veil and matching bouquet of flameworked flowers – as her capstone project and completed it for the show. The veil and dress are made of hundreds of flowing glass petals, created using a specialized flameworking technique which allows the artist to shape the glass into intricate designs. 

Rebmann came to Sheridan from Tyler, Texas to pursue a career in glass. “Sheridan was everything I could have asked for,” she says. "On our first day at Sheridan, we were gathering glass from the hot furnace. We had teachers and technicians who truly cared for us. They would help us pursue our ideas to the fullest potential and try to give us the widest skill set so we could go out in the world of glass and be able to find work or sell our work. They always wanted us to win.” 

Sheridan also helped Rebmann discover how much she loves glass for the techniques and skill rather than the idea of it as an art. “I fell in love with the history and craft of it. As a result, I found my passion for re-creating flowers.” 

“Sheridan was everything I could have asked for. They (teachers and technicians) would help us pursue our ideas to the fullest potential and try to give us the widest skill set so we could go out in the world of glass and be able to find work or sell our work.”

– Natalie Rebmann, Sheridan graduate

Han says she found her Glass Fashion Show experience even more meaningful because she participated alongside others from the Sheridan glass community. “There were several of us (including Laura and Natalie) connected to Sheridan – from artists in their 20s to those in their 70s – who had either studied or taught here. It was a beautiful moment of connection across generations. I found myself somewhere in the middle of that continuum, witnessing how our shared passion for glass continues to bring people together.” 

With the success of the Glass Fashion Show, Sheridan's glass legacy will continue to grow. 

Unlock your talent and creativity as a glass artist in Sheridan’s Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design (Glass) program.