The excitement and countdown have started for the 41st Annual Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles Fashion Show.
After judging day last Saturday, designers, models and production are moving forward to the formal event happening 5 p.m. Friday in Beasley Coliseum.
Senior design major Maddy Anderson said she is very excited for the show. Anderson has been in the Department of AMDT for three years after changing her major from civil engineering her freshman year.
“It’s just, we’ve been working for this,” Anderson said. “I think just, me personally, working towards it for three years seeing how every senior class has just put their heart and soul into it.”
The designers have worked hard to create four garment pieces each for the show, which is a way to portray that they can create collections and design in the future, she said.
“I feel like we are such a small department and not a lot of people know about us,” Anderson said. “Just to showcase, ‘Hey, we’re here, I’m actually pretty okay at this.’”
Some of the biggest goals for the designers is to make something that they are proud of, senior design major Sydney Campbell said.
“That’s why I have been spending so much time in the studio and all of my own time. Late, very late nights working on this trying to just make something,” Campbell said.
Campbell is also very excited to see her family.
“I’m excited for my mom to see, I haven’t told her anything and she’s really curious so I’m excited for her to see that,” she said.
Anderson shared this sentiment when it came to being nervous about the show.
“Walking on stage, I know what to do, but what do I do with my hands?” she said. “I think that’s my most nerve-racking thing is just walking on stage seeing and having like 16 of my family members.”
One of Campbell’s models is Sara Burres, junior pre-medicine major, who has been modeling in the fashion show since her freshman year.
“I am stunned and amazed by the creativity and the work been put into the craftsmanship. Oh my gosh, I’m so proud of Sydney Campbell,” Burres said.
When it came to separating last year’s theme, Legacy, from this year’s, Artisan, Burres said it is a change in the clothes’ structure.
“The structure of the different pieces I’ve been getting, like the little sneak peeks, they’re more artistry,” she said. “It’s very fitting for the theme.”
While the road to the fashion show is hard, Anderson said the senior designers involved are ready to show off their hard work. She is excited to see everyone’s visions come to life.
“I’ve been in the same classes with all these people for three years, and I’ve seen how much they’ve grown and I’ve seen people drop out, people almost drop out, me, but everybody has worked so hard to get to this point,” Anderson said. “And to be able to have this opportunity and to have this experience, it’s so cool.”
The Artisan Gallery Reception, where designs from the fashion show will be on display, opens at 4 p.m. April 16 in the Compton Union Building Lobby, according to the WSU Presence.
