The Department of Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design will host their Showcase of Excellence on Thursday at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Beginning at 6 p.m., the mounted exhibit will be displayed. The runway show will start, following the display, at 7 p.m. Online ticket sales have been extended to the start of the event, according to Madisen Edstrom, public relations chair for the event and junior in apparel and textiles.
“The apparel design department hosts this event to put out work done inside the classroom, for alumni to see, and (to) provide good networking,” Edstrom said.
Participants had different categories of inspiration they could enter their designs under, or they could enter them individually. For interior design students, “free imagine” or a more modern look is sponsored by Knoll Textiles, according to Edstrom.
Edstrom, who has been involved in the apparel design department, said that she wanted to participate and get more involved because the event had been going on for a couple of years and has gotten bigger.
Kaylee Champagne, junior in interior design, designed an original Knoll Textiles piece as well as a studio project for the showcase.
“I think interior design is creating a space, a way to let my creativity out, while helping people experience the space,” Champagne said.
Champagne’s Knoll Textiles piece is a design for Vespa Scooters if they were to make the U.S. their headquarters.
“I designed it in the shape of a key,” Champagne said. “The shape of the key is igniting new ideas to develop a company … the shape of the key drives the design.”
The apparel and textile design students have been given the opportunity to design or style their pieces off of Janet Rees designs, according to Edstrom.
Molly Fitzpatrick, sophomore in apparel and textiles, designed a dress in the live runway show.
In addition to bringing her design to life on the runway, Fitzpatrick is also in charge of the mounted displays. There will be 14 mounted exhibits, according to Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick said the apparel and textile design students are modern; looking at people, the planet and the product. Their main goal is sustainability and furthering the industry.
All designs showcased made it into the showcase by vote of professors who rated all the projects on scales, according to Edstrom.
“Besides networking, this gives good experiences for future competitions, because they (designers) can continue to submit their pieces in future competitions,” Edstrom said.
