WSU Mom's Weekend 2011 Fashion Show draws crowd

http://dailyevergreen.com/story/34355 4/11/2011, WSU Daily Evergreen Fashion show draws a crowd Moms filed into the Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum for the Mom’s Weekend Fashion Show. A model clad in mustard yellow high-waisted flared silk pants and an eggshell white puff-sleeved top strode down the runway to the pounding beat of the music, kicking off the 28th annual Mom’s Weekend Fashion Show. Junior and senior designers from the Department of Apparel Merchandising, Design and Textiles (AMDT) created the looks modeled at the show Friday night in Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. About 2,000 people attended. The retro Snow White look was part of a four piece collection called “Garden Party” designed by senior AMDT major Kathleen Bresnahan. Bresnahan said she was inspired by the children’s book "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" for her collection. She tried to make vintage-looking pieces that would create full, rounded body shapes in the models wearing her designs. She said watching her collection be presented was like a dream. “The experience was really surreal,” Bresnahan said. “I loved everything I made, so I was really happy to see it finally go down the runway. Making it was always a challenge, but it was nice to play with different fabrics.” Several awards were announced at the end of the show. The Molly Pepper Best in Show scholarship awards were given to Breya Stephenson and Brooke Gifford. Kristin Kathol was given the award for Outstanding Creativity. Ellie Quarton received the award for Most Marketable Collection, while Sarah Moriguchi was awarded Most Marketable Independent Piece. Two awards were given by the WSU chapter of the International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA) to members of the fashion show production crew. Kathryn Duncan received the ITAA Service Award, and Jodi Farr received the ITAA Fashion Show Award. This year’s fashion show was called “Fusion” as a representation of the blend of design and merchandising skills learned in the AMDT department. The show was also a fusion of different styles, fabrics and techniques used to create the designs. No two collections looked the same. Junior designer Laura Seely said exhibiting a dress in the show was an amazing experience. She said seeing all of the collections shown on the runway made her excited to create her own full collection next year. “I think it’ll take a little bit of the pressure off of next year just knowing the process and having gone through it all,” she said. “It was cool having a connection with the senior designers and seeing all the hard work they put into it really pay off.” Following Bresnahan’s collection, a young boy clad in denim shorts and dark sunglasses posed cross-armed at the end of the runway as the crowd went wild with cheers and applause. The boy was part of the “Guitar Boys” collection designed by Carlie Bailes, the only junior designer to be featured in the main part of the show. Other collections included Hannah Montgomery’s line “Underneath It All,” a lingerie collection meant to boost women’s self-esteem, and Gifford’s line “Irkutsk,” a fall collection inspired by the grace and intricacy of the 18th century wooden homes in Irkutsk, Russia. Gifford said she was taken by complete surprise when her name was announced for winning Best in Show. “I cried,” she said. “I did not expect to win any awards tonight. It was a really fun surprise, but everybody worked so hard that anyone could have won.” Shannon Baker, a senior communication major, said she attended the show only because her friend was exhibiting a dress in the flat-pattern design segment, but was surprised by how much she enjoyed it. Baker said she was struck by how big the event was and how many people filled the coliseum seats. “I’ve never been to a fashion show before,” she said. “I was impressed; a lot of the clothes were really cute.”