Purdue Today

Purdue Fashion Show offers students real-world design experience

This Saturday (April 2), the Purdue Fashion Show will offer seniors in apparel design and technology the chance to display their "wares" to two different sellout audiences at Ross-Ade Pavilion. To showcase the senior design collections, 10 production teams -- charged with everything from an art gallery to venue and staging -- have worked for several months on the event. Part of the core curriculum since 1999, the production requires all hands on deck for some 90 students in the program.

Nancy Strickler, clinical professor of consumer sciences and retailing, has helped guide students through the show, which has been produced by the Purdue Fashion Association for a dozen years. This year Susan Owens, also a clinical professor of consumer sciences and retailing, is helping to lead the runway charge.

"We look at the fashion show as an opportunity to teach multiple things," Strickler says. "To promote teamwork, we've moved juniors and seniors into leadership positions for the production."

The multiple roles provide both under- and upperclassmen the opportunity to participate in the event. Members of a models management team began recruiting and training models last fall, Strickler says. Students on the promotions and advertising team helped to fill the seats. Proceeds from this year’s shows, which have indeed sold out for both 1 and 7 p.m., will help pay for fabric materials and other expenses next year. Other teams include students in charge of awards and scholarships; communications; design and dressers; logistics and scheduling; models presentation; and music and visuals.

"They are really a tight-knit group with seniors often mentoring freshmen," Strickler says. "How often do you see a major where everyone is working together on one project?"

Several awards -- from best underclassmen artwork to the best senior designs -- will be announced on the night of the show. Audience members also will have a chance to vote on their favorite collection of the evening.

For senior Genevieve DeSutter, the Purdue Fashion Show is the culmination of four years of learning how to incorporate art into clothing design. A Brownsburg, Ind., native, she spent last summer studying at the London College of Fashion. She says she toured a lot of museums, absorbing the culture.

"For the show we have the option of doing commercial, ready-to-wear things, or something different," DeSutter says. "My collection is really kind of eccentric. I've designed wearable art."

With a dual major in retail management, DeSutter hopes to land on her feet somewhere in the fashion business. A tough job market in an industry where people are often expected to pay their dues makes for a challenging field. Still, Strickler hopes the experience of the Purdue Fashion Show will not only strengthen teamwork and leadership skills but also position graduates as event planners.

With career responsibilities that could span the range of planning simple fashion events in retail settings to outfitting supermodels for the runways of New York and Paris, these apparel and design technology majors are all cutting their fashion teeth with the West Lafayette production. "Our students come to understand what it means to be the leader of an event, large or small," Strickler says.