Multicolored fabrics and multiculturalism will take center stage at N.C . State’s Stewart Theatre this Thursday. Twelve designers from N.C . State, Meredith College and North Carolina Central University will display their own unique lines while delivering a message on diversity.
Hosted by the African American Textile Society, the fashion exposé gives the student and faculty audience the chance to see different designers’ ideas come together, creating a culture-integrating experience witnessed through fashion.
“The fashion exposé is an annual student design competition where students showcase their skills and talent in the area of garment design and construction,” Edward Brown, director of Diversity Programs, said.
While the exposé is a fashion show displaying a spectrum of colors and fabrics composed during long and tedious hours in the studios, designers will also be competing for a reward.
To prevent senior designers from gaining an unfair advantage against novice designers, all competitors are departmentalized into two groups – Novice category and an Intermediate & Beyond category. Designers are expected to produce five different garments for judging.
“First place winners actually receive a scholarship in each category of competition. The second place winner in the Intermediate & Beyond category also wins a scholarship. Winners of the audience favorite award will win a plaque,” Brown said.
As the University’s oldest running fashion show, the cultural fashion exposé was born 14 years ago.
It was initiated with the intention of showcasing skills learned in the Department of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management while displaying fashion productions from an African American perspective, according to Brenda Allen, former director of Diversity Programs.
Today, it serves to be a general opportunity for College of Textiles students to bring everything they have learned in the classroom to life and ultimately onto the runway.
Glenna Teague, a freshman in fashion and textile management and one of the student designers, views the upcoming exposé as both a doorway for her career in fashion and a method to spreading racism awareness.
“I hope that this show will allow people to realize how diverse N.C. State’s College of Textiles is, and that there is a continuing effort to spread diversity throughout the campus and eliminate racism,” Teague said.
For the competing designers, the last few days boiling down to the show have proved to be a mixture of anxious emotions and nervous expectations, bringing out the competitive edge in all contestants.
Besides merging cultures and diversity awareness, the coming together of the show has also united the mindsets of competing students.
Joelle Purifoy, a sophomore in fashion and textile management and a student designer, is one of them.
“I’m hoping that all of the designers, including myself, look past the competition aspect of the show and gain a sense of unity in the realization that we have all sought out fashion design as a means of personal expression,” Purifoy said.
Audiences will see an array of the concepts each designer has to offer – the abstract, the classic and everything else in-between.
Kyle O’Donnell, junior in textile technology and a student designer, described the line he’ll be exhibiting, mirroring the exposé’s message on unity and diversity.
“At NCSU, we are so fortunate to have students from all over the U.S. and world. Each person brings unique constructs, designs and perceptions of fashion to our community,” O’Donnell said. “My line, Global Horizons, attempts to showcase [that]… at the end of the day, no matter where we come from or what we wear, we are all human.”
The event begins at 7 p.m. in Stewart Theatre on Thursday, April 7. Advance tickets are $5 for students and $7 for the general public. Tickets bought the day of the show will be $7 for students and $10 for the general public. VIP floor seating is $15.
