Seniors’ collections will fill the E. Turner Stump Theatre this weekend for “Möbius: Twisting the Evolutions of Fashion.”

Over the course of three shows, Kent State fashion design students will be showing 43 collections, each of three to five pieces, and 31 individual pieces. The student show/dress rehearsal will be hosted at 6 p.m. Friday with two shows following at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday.

“Many of our collections this year have sustainability,” Schofield-Tomschin said. “It was kind of an underlying theme we asked them to incorporate.”

Jessica Smith, one of the senior fashion design majors showing a collection, has a jumpsuit, “flowy skirt” and a pant and tube top set.

“I like to work with silk,” Smith said, “so my whole collection is silk.”

Smith’s women’s wear collection, Vulcana, is inspired by volcanoes, she said.

Christa Lashley, senior fashion design major, created a four-piece lingerie collection called Ying and Yang for the show. Her inspiration came from burlesque, but she also added vintage to it, she said. The name came about because her pieces combine lace and leather.

Anyone could submit the individual pieces, Schofield-Tomschin said. Some seniors submitted pieces they had created in the past, and sophomores and juniors also entered their garments.

The final show will conclude with a number of awards, including: “Best Pattern-Making,” “Best Draping,” “Best Children’s Wear” and “Best Sports Wear.”

The collections and individual pieces have already been judged and the awards have been decided by the panel of three judges: Judy Gannon, fashion professor at Virginia Marti College of Art and Design; Donna Sabato, women’s wear designer for Dredgers Union; and Connie Marsh, who does trend analysis for Dots clothing.

“They look at the students’ drawings and they react,” Schofield-Tomschin said, “they look at the students’ patterns and they react.”

There are also critics’ awards from the critics who worked with the students on their collections throughout their senior year. The critics were Jeff Bergus, Sarah Van Aken and John Patrick. This was a yearlong process for the critics, Schofield-Tomschin said.

After feedback from the critics, Lashley said she had to redo each piece one time.

Smith said she showed her collection in steps to the critics. They told her each time what needed to be fixed, which resulted in her redoing her jumpsuit about three times.

Although it was a strenuous process, Smith said it’s still “something we all love to do.”

Friday’s show for Kent State students, faculty and staff will have two different components, Schofield-Tomschin said.

One part will be a behind-the-scenes event for any high school students interested in the fashion program. The students will get to see how the fashion school works and stay after for the show. Faculty and staff can buy tickets at the door for $10.

Tickets are still on sale for Saturday’s matinee show at www.tix.com for $40.

Contact Danielle DeBord at [email protected].