The lights dimmed over the catwalk as models wearing a quilt-like skirt and a jacket, which was formerly a duffel bag, made their way onto the stage in The Student Center Ballroom.

Multiple shows took place during the Annual Fashion Show which spanned from April 25 – 27. One show was for high school students, another was a student show in collaboration with the Arts Pass and lastly, the VIP show, which was dedicated to industry professionals and donors, said Daniella Byrnes, a senior fashion merchandising major and senior co-producer of the show.

Mackenzie Karsten, a senior fashion merchandising major and senior co-producer of the show, said the show increased in size because of the number of Bachelor of Fine Arts fashion design students partaking.

“This is honestly our biggest year. I think we have double the amount of designers this year than we did last year,” she said.

There were 28 Bachelor of Fine Arts fashion design students and 14 Bachelor of Art fashion design students’ collections on display for the show, Karsten said.

One of those Bachelor of Fine Arts students is Lizzy Truitt, a senior fashion design major and creator of “The Art of Making Do” collection. Truitt said her collection incorporated material and workwear silhouettes from her hometown in north Alabama.

Truitt first thought of creating a collection dedicated to her hometown as she was motivated to prove to others how the goods from her hometown, like cotton, are luxury goods within the fashion industry.

“After coming to college… being out of state and telling people more and more about my hometown and showing pictures,” Truitt said. “A lot of people were almost surprised [because] of how beautiful it is and even I was surprised by that.”

Although Truitt said she wanted people to understand how a majority of the goods from her hometown can be considered luxury, she still incorporated sustainable elements within her collection.

Truitt’s collection featured all cotton-based textiles and upcycled clothing such as two tops which were formerly doilies, she said.

“I have two crocheted tops that are upcycled doilies so it kind of plays into that art of making do,” Truitt said. 

Although Truitt said she used cotton batting, cotton wool made from cotton’s silk fibers, to create the quilt-like skirt and jacket, she also used raw cotton from her family’s farm to create other pieces like a bandeau top. 

She said raw cotton was incorporated because of her hometown’s history in the textile industry.

“One of the things I am pushing from within this collection and using that raw cotton,” Truitt said, “in hopes the industry starts looking to the South and within the U.S. for raw materials.”

Byrnes said she noticed an increase in designers who were choosing to use sustainable material in their collections.

“My first year, we definitely did not have as many collections that incorporated sustainability,” she said.

Before the designers submitted their work for consideration, they were asked if they incorporated biodegradable or recyclable textiles into their collections, Byrnes said. 

She said this year a good amount of the collections focused on sustainability or incorporated the biodegradable or recycling aspects.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction considering how polluting the fashion industry as a whole is,” she said.

Karsten said designers like Maddy Kelly, a senior fashion design major and creator of the collection “Get Home,” focused on sustainability and social inequalities like feminine empowerment.

“Maddy Kelly is doing [a collection] on feminine power, empowerment and how beautiful doesn’t have to equal fragile,” she said.

The show itself also offers designers an outlet to express their personal experiences. An example includes Amaya Franklin, a senior fashion design major, with her “Coko” collection, Byrnes said.

“I know that I believe it’s [Franklin] who’s… her collection was talking about the experience of an African American woman and it’s very representative of her personal story,” she said.

Since the show can function as an outlet, Truitt said she hoped her collection challenged attendees’ perceptions of the South and what they can do with their resources.

“[It] challenges them to realize the possibility of what surrounds you and how it can create art and be beautiful no matter what anyone says,” she said.

Karsten said she hoped people acknowledge how hard the students have worked to create their collections for the show.

“I think [people] are able to see just how much work that goes into all these designers’ looks,” she said. “I just hope that [people] can see that Kent State is producing these amazing designers.”

Harry Becker, a senior fashion design major, was awarded Best in Show and Universal Design for his collection “Semper Paratus.” 

Rachel Sarang Moore and India Williams, senior fashion design majors, were presented the Celebration Award for their collections “Reverence” and “Double Consciousness.”

Matthew Williams, a senior fashion design major, won the Special Collections award for his collection “No Space to Breathe.”

For utilizing the TechStyleLab in Rockwell Hall to help create the collection, “Dry Land,” Elie Jammal, a senior fashion design major, won the TechStyleLab award.

Truitt took home the Supima Award for her collection and Karsten and Byrnes were recognized for their efforts by being awarded the Fashion Show Management award.

Adriana Gasiewski is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].