Students in WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design, and Textiles (AMDT) won awards in design, potential industry impact, leadership and service this spring, based on their senior ePortfolios and projects, showcased online.
In AMDT, WSU’s comprehensive four-year apparel and textiles program, students are challenged to understand all aspects of the textile, apparel, and fashion industry, from concept to consumer.
Senior Fashion Awards
Although this year’s Mom’s Weekend Fashion Show was canceled due to the need for social distancing amid COVID-19, students were able to share their designs using photographs, drawings, and mood boards, submitted electronically for virtual judging.
One of the highlights of the annual Fashion Show is a recognition of the work of student designers, as well as the efforts of students that occur less visibly to make the show a success.
“For our design judging process, we had a great panel of eight judges, four from the apparel industry, and each judge reviewed 20 seniors’ ePortfolios,” explained AMDT Assistant Professor Chanmi Hwang, who teaches the Senior Design capstone course. This year, four designers and three students working behind the scenes were recognized. For Senior Design Awards, judges weighed competitiveness, price, quality, and purpose. The ePortfolios showed conceptual drawings and images of progress on physical garments.
Sovann Robinson was awarded Most Marketable/Ready to Wear. Michael Damaso took home Best Overall Collection Design, and Justin Janke was awarded Most Innovative Functional Design. Best Digital Product Development went to Jhon Dimaculangan.
The Leadership and Service Awards for Behind the Scene Fashion Show Production went to Bridgette Bacon, McKenzie Duquaine, and Tara Kelly.
Shanna Hiscock, academic and internship coordinator for AMDT, said it was difficult to select only three winners for the production crew.
“McKenzie stood out with her efforts, keeping our social media content fresh. Bridgette devoted hours focusing on the art for the show, and without Tara, we would not have had any photos or the amazing videos,” she said.
The challenge of social distancing led to creative solutions by students.
“In the past, we haven’t showcased these garments online,” said Hiscock, “I think that’s something that we can now start doing.” View the senior ePortfolios at wsuamdtfashionshow.squarespace.com.
Case Studies and Community Impact
Every spring semester, AMDT partners with industry members in their senior merchandising capstone course, creating experiences for students working on real-world case studies.
The judges evaluated the projects based on seven criteria: visual concept, aesthetic impact, textiles and supporting materials, target market, technical sketches and illustrations, level of difficulty, visual presentation, and creativity.
This year, Bridgette Bacon, Brooke Carson, Camden Clark, Jhon Dimaculangan, Cali Flynn, and Haley Simmonds were awarded first place in the Cotton Case Study, awarded by Mark Messura of Cotton Incorporated for their team design CODDLE; a reuseable cotton diaper.
The second-place prize went to Jess Daher, Julianna Diaz, Justin Janke, Kaley Mozell, Eilish Rising, and Olivia Taylor for their design Toasty, a weatherproof parka for kids.
The KINONA Case Study, awarded by Dianna Jefferies Celuch, CEO and CO-Founder of KINONA SPORTS, awarded first place to Maddie Egberg, Tara Kelly, Kendra Kranc, Regina Pozzi, Jackie Sauvage, and Macayla White for their project featuring extended sizes. Ryan Falk, Mackenzie Hansen, Nicole Ilewicz, Emily Kazmark, and Yeburzing Mengistu were awarded second place as a team for their travel extension. Jennifer Jackman, Economic Developer Manager of the City of Pullman, Aziz A. Makhani of the Washington Small Business Development Center in Pullman, and Adam Jones of Pullman Marketing made up the judging committee.
First place was awarded to the Coug Store Team: Ariana Andino, Jeanette Arellano, Camilla Costa Goetz, Sophie Jacobs, Sarah Parchman, and Gisela Valderrama.
Second Place was awarded to the team representing Lily Bee’s Boutique, Bridal, and High-End Consignments: Hugo Barragan, Olga Berezyuk, Hailey Cribbs, Kyung Lee, Sydney McAvinew, and Donovan Moi.
Due to the challenges facing Pullman businesses regarding COVID 19, the winning teams chose to return the prizes donated by the businesses to show continuous support for the local community.
Judges appreciated the varied methods of online presentation and mixed media, despite not being able to see the actual garments in person, Hwang said.
“They felt the ePortfolio format is the way designers need to learn to express themselves and their ideas in a world of social media and technology, she said.
Learn more about the academic opportunities at WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles by visiting amdt.wsu.edu.