Students Showcase Gameday Dress Designs At UT Fashion Show (Slideshow)

By Iris Camille Claudio in Blog on April 22, 2011 at 2:38 am | No Comments

The rhythmic clink-clank-clunk of stilettos hitting a runway filled the Frank Erwin Center Thursday night as up-and-coming designers debuted their collections to the public.

It wasn’t a surprise taping of “Project Runway” but the UT apparel design program’s annual fashion show, this year titled “Innovation.”

Created in 1997, the fashion show and exhibition is organized by senior apparel-design students with the help of faculty. Models showcase the students’ work of almost 100 original pieces, from casual attire to evening gowns and wedding dresses.

This year, the Co-op commissioned the designers to create gameday dresses, in ever-stylish burnt orange, which are now on sale at the Co-op.

The show is anticipated in the Austin fashion world, with some 5,000 people present and sponsorships from Tribeza magazine and Fashionably Austin.

This year’s show lived up to its name, with students incorporating the latest in fashion technology, designing digital prints and laser-cut patterns, and using eco-friendly and sustainable fabrics.

Although my fashion expertise is a little less than nonexistent, I have watched lots of “Project Runway” re-runs, and I was blown away with the professionalism of the work of these young designers. They will go off in to the world with positions in popular brands like Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen.

Unlike most fashion majors across the country, students in UT’s apparel-design program, in the College of Natural Sciences, have to take courses in classes like organic chemistry. They’re not fooling around when it comes to creating style, and it showed Thursday night.

The University Fashion Group, comprised of fashion-loving UT students — members have worked behind-the-scenes at New York and L.A. Fashion Weeks — created the stylish runway for the event and had a live stream of the show online.

Awards were given at the end of the night to designers for their hard work, including Best Fashion Collection and Most Marketable Fashion Collection.

“Innovation” was supported and sponsored by The University Cooperative Society, Texas Student Media, and the Student Events Center.

Photos by Iris Camille Claudio