In an attempt to describe the process of designing a line for the Mom’s Weekend Fashion Show, an old movie comes to mind – “The Red Shoes.” There is a scene when a ballet director, known for his creative genius, tells a young ballerina the impression of beauty cannot be achieved without great agony of the body and spirit. Agony is one word for the six-month process of preparing to present a fashion line all your own. I’ve loved every minute of it.

Planning for the fashion show starts long before your first sewing, pattern-making or draping class. It starts when you decide to be in the apparel merchandising design and textiles program as a design option. To graduate from this program, the fashion show is required.

There are two classes involved in the fashion show – AMT 411 and AMT 412. Just as WSU as a whole is doing, our department is always trying to improve its classes. This year is the first year AMT 411 students began sewing their garments for the fashion show during fall semester. In past years, the first class was used for the search of inspiration and other preparations of developing a line of four looks.

This extra time was incredibly useful. It provided enough time to make a muslin mock-up of the designs, which would later be remade and redesigned, ultimately to present the best look possible. It also meant we became familiar with working long hours in our building, Kruegel Hall. Time flies by while you work, and it’s not uncommon to realize that you have been in Kruegel for 13 hours straight. I wish I could say that is the most hours a day a design student will ever spend in the building, but as the fashion show nears we have to be prepared for all-nighters – perhaps two in a row.

Passion and fear motivates those designing for the show. I vividly remember the fitting with my first model in my first garment and thinking, “Oh my God. This is going to be in front of hundreds of people with my name attached to it.” This is why we will sew seams, rip them out when certain lines are only one-eighth of an inch off, and do it all over again and again. It doesn’t matter how little we have slept or how many times we sew that seam – when the garment is on a model and looks exactly as we envisioned it, it’s worth it.

The sewing is not the only hard part of the process – the search for models is as important as the quality of the garment itself. If a model is unsure or uncomfortable on the stage or in the garment, it will show and distract from your designs.

It is never too soon to start looking for models because the models are fellow students and friends. The clothes will be on people just like you and just like me. A model will need to do several fittings and spend a long night at dress rehearsals, and they do all of this as a volunteer. I have been extremely lucky with my own models, but there have been times when a model can’t do the show at the 11th hour because of sickness or an injury, in which case the designer has to find a replacement and refit a garment right away.

While I’ve never been more terrified of the phrase “it’s only two weeks away,” I truly have enjoyed all the late nights and tearful breakdowns because it is all for the absolute elation when something you imagined only a few months or weeks ago fits on a model and looks better than you thought it could.