Shows Highlight Student Creativity and Innovation

The spring 2016 semester at the Wilson College of Textiles culminated in three shows featuring the work of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management students. While each show challenged designers to create and innovate in different ways and along unique themes, they all brought the same result: exciting fashion and textile designs that demonstrated the unique melding of aesthetic, technical, functional and expressive skills for which the Wilson College of Textiles is known.

White Oak Selvage Denim Design Challenge

NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles helped Greensboro-based Cone Denim celebrate 125 years of denim ingenuity this spring with the White Oak Selvage Denim Design Challenge. Twenty five students from the College’s department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management showed original designs made from White Oak selvage denim in the design challenge and runway competition held April 6. The students designers used authentic American selvage denim replicated from the early 1900s and woven on vintage American Draper fly-shuttle looms. Each participated in a semester-long seminar class where they were challenged to think creatively and innovate a denim “work of art” currently unavailable in the marketplace. They had to employ various technical design processes using their understanding of fabric construction and dimensional design. In the end, 30 designs were juried in that celebrated the authenticity and evolution of selvage. Read more and see their work. 

19th Annual AATS Fashion Exposé

On Thursday, April 7,  the African American Textile Society presented the 19th Annual AATS Fashion Exposé in Talley Ballroom on NC State’s Main Campus.  The 2016 show featured 18 Wilson College of Textiles student designers and tens of models who walked the runway wearing the unique designs that focused on the present.  This generation of designers are revolutionizing what fashion means today. They ditched extravagant patterns and began featuring monochromatic color schemes in their wardrobes. They took fashion back to simplicity, but with a twist. The show is the longest running, student design competition on NC State’s campus. Read more and see their work.

FTD: Emerging Designers Showcase

On May 5, hundreds of guests including students, faculty and families, flocked to the James B. Hunt Jr. Library on NC State’s Centennial Campus to attend the Wilson College of Textiles’ FTD Emerging Designers Showcase, an opportunity for 15 seniors in Fashion and Textile Design to reveal the collections they have created. Launched in 2011, the Fashion and Textile Design program combines art and science to prepare its students for a competitive career in the textile industry. Admission is selective and this year’s class is only the second graduating class. Read more, see designers’ work and watch the show.