The Union Courtyard was transformed into a design studio Friday evening. Teams of students furiously constructed eco-friendly apparel for K-State's "Project Runway" competition. Designers used model forms, floor space and human bodies to design, fit and adjust their items.

Rucha Mandlick, graduate student in architecture, had her model, Taneysha Howard, wearing a skirt as it was pinned together. Mandlick found out about the competition from a friend. Howard stood nervously still as Mandlick placed pins into the tape and newspaper skirt.

"I'm enjoying this experience," Howard said. "I'm just really excited."

Eleven designers had a mere few hours to design and put together an outfit out of materials provided by the Union Program Council. Lisbeth Bailey, assistant director of the K-State Student Union, said the UPC team provided all the materials for the competition, but students were allowed one "wild card" item they could add to the pile.

"It was highly encouraged that the item be recycled, but not a requirement," Bailey said. "The majority of the outfit had to be materials we provided."

The materials provided ranged from newspaper and magazines to different colored duct tape and plastic bags. Some students brought markers as their extra item, while others chose paint or re-used fabric.

K-State senior in apparel and textiles, Kelsey Hendricks, fine tuned a corset with her roommate, Brigitte Bruna, senior in graphic design. Hendricks used her wildcard item, a black trash bag, as the dress beneath the corset.

"I think it's great that K-State is trying to let people know about our responsibilities and promoting re-using and recycling," Bruna said.

Hendricks was so excited to participate in her first competition that she had made two practice dresses hoping to hone her skills and decide what design worked best.

The designers worked in the courtyard for more than four hours before adjourning to a private room for dressing the models. As the models and designers made their way to the stage at 10 p.m., celebrity fashion designer Nick Verreos took the stage for a presentation.

Verreos opened with the story of his arrival into Manhattan Regional Airport.

"I loved it, oh my goodness," Verreos said. "The plane landed, we got off, then there's a door and then there's the terminal."

Verreos spoke to a crowd of more than 200 people in Forum Hall prior to the runway show. After sharing some anecdotes, Verreos spoke about the importance of eco-friendly and sustainable fabric and emphasized the responsibility designers have to the environment while a slideshow of his collection ran on the screen behind him.

Verreos said many countries that mass-produce clothing use many pesticides and other harmful chemicals that become part of the fabric. He told the crowd higher costs can be expected when dealing with eco-friendly products, but designers have a responsibility to themselves to produce safe, quality clothing.

Nationally recognized for competing in Project Runway Season 2, Verreos has had his own clothing line since 2001. After his presentation, Verre ect Runway season to whether he would go into Aggieville for drinks with some fans.

As the clock neared 11:30 p.m. K-State Project Runway kicked off with John Deterding, junior in information systems, introducing the judges panel and handing off the microphone to Jasmine Taylor, freshman in animal sciences and industry, to introduce each contestant.

One by one the designers took the stage with their models to speak about their inspirations and concepts. After all the designers finished, the models took one last walk on the stage and were joined by the designers. The judges quickly discussed scores and Taylor announced the top three places, awarding the first $150.