A year’s worth of work for one night.

It all started last year. During the first weeks of last November, Pattie Hofland, sophomore in fashion and textile management, began designing her garment for Collection 2009: Cotton Couture.

“I just thought I’d give it a try,” Hofland said. “I’ve never actually designed anything and this is only the second garment I’ve ever made.”

Hofland describes how it took about a week of all nighters in a textiles lab to prepare her piece for judging on  Dec. 17, when she would meet with the panel.

The judging board included three Cotton Incorporated representatives, a member of the American Heart Association and a College of Textiles teacher.

“Everyone was telling me that it was really nerve wrecking and that they were really hard on you, but they were really nice,” Hofland said.

After careful inspection of Hofland’s garment through a series of questions about construction and a thorough, hands-on examination, Hofland was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“I found out in an e-mail about a week later that I got in and I was really excited,” Hofland said. “Now it’s just rehearsals and preparing for the show.”

About the Show

Cotton Couture is a collaboration between the Fashion program in the College of Textiles and Cotton Incorporated.

While other university fashion shows include a variety of colleges in the design process, Cotton Couture displays the talents of only textile students, allowing each designer to show off their own unique abilities.

Designers are divided into four categories: beginner, intermediate, advanced and collection. Collection designers submit at least four outfits total and met with the judging panel Wednesday.

The competition is open to individual designers and has only one criteria–their designs must be 75 to 100 percent cotton. This proved to be a demanding restriction to some.

“It did limit us from using other fabrics,” Lorenzo Agustin, senior in textile and apparel management, said. “It was definitely a challenge.”

However, Agustin, like many other designers, embraced the challenge and the experience brought with the extensive work.

A Grand Experience

Though the show will be making its debut on the 15th, nothing about it will on a small scale.

“We are expecting 100 to 150 garments,” Sara Runfola, a sophomore in fashion and textile management and a designer for the show, said. “We are hoping to fill up all of Stewart Theater.”

Designs will be a “range of everything,” Runfola said. Outfits featured in the show will be incorporating pants, dresses and even a trench-coat will be sported down the runway.

“The point is to see how innovative you can get with cotton,” Runfola said.

Participants hope that the show will have enough starting momentum to create an annual event.

 Agustin said that since the event is just for textiles students, it really gives them a chance to show off their unique design capabilities.

“It’s a chance to see how the College of Textile students are, that we are very creative and we have a lot of true abilities,” Agustin said.

Going RED

Though the show displays the hard work and talents of several textile students, that is not its only intention.

“This is for a good cause,”” Runfola said.

The show also promotes a meaningful and powerful organization that is a part of the American Heart Association. Go Red for women is a program celebrating women’s fight against heart disease and stroke.

The red dress associated with the program has become a beacon of hope for millions as the program strives to meet its goal of a 25 percent reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke risk by 2010.

The Go Red For Women program hopes to change the perception that heart disease is a “man’s disease” and educate women about the dangers and risks heart disease poses to them.

Cotton Couture will be auctioning off a red dress– the emblem of the Go Red program–designed through a collaboration of teachers.

 Part of the proceeds from the ticket sales will also be put toward the program while another part will go toward funding the show.

Go Red for Women will be celebrating national wear red day on Friday, Feb. 6. The American Heart Association encourages everyone to wear red as a simple yet powerful way to fight heart disease and stroke in women.