Emily Spilker knew she wanted to be a fashion designer once she finally got the chance to break free from Catholic school uniforms.

Escaping the rigid monotony of school uniforms gave her the opportunity and the drive to begin revealing her personality through her clothing by the time she got to high school, she said.

“That’s when I realized I really liked shopping, but I wasn’t just shopping,” she said. “I went through the store, and I would start styling stuff together.” Spilker is one of 19 senior apparel merchandising, design and textiles students sending a collection down the runway for the Mom’s Weekend Fashion Show.

She said she hasn’t considered any other career since her sophomore year of high school. Now that her school days are coming to an end, she can’t think of anything but the judging results of her designs.

“The fashion show is cool, but the only thing that all the designers care about is the judging, because that’s why we made our garments,” she said. “It’s kind of hard because it’s a subjective point of view. Last year, there were a lot of tears backstage after the awards were given out.” Through the stress, Spilker said her collection has come together really well. Her line is inspired mainly by military uniforms. She designed two jackets and a vest that incorporate square, masculine shoulders with a tighter, tailored fit. Lace leggings soften the looks for a touch of femininity.

At the same time, she said she tried to make her collection professional with a color scheme focused around cream white, navy blue and burgundy. All of her pieces are also separately wearable.

“It’s so versatile that I could probably say my target consumer could be anyone from 19 to 35, depending on their personality,” she said. “I would hope they would wear it for everyday wear.” Spilker said she is really critical of her design work.

She redid the entire back of her vest four days ago. She said some of the other designers told her she was crazy for starting over so late in the game.

“With my whole collection, I hated it yesterday,” she said. “You look at it for so long, and it just loses its appeal. But then when I saw it all together, I realized it is good.” Spilker participated in the fashion show last year, which she said was a lot more stressful. She modeled for her best friend who didn’t have a hair stylist or makeup artist, and she ended up having to do some of the other models’ hair and makeup, minutes before the show.

“That was really stressful,” she said. “This year, it’s really nice because everyone can literally just sit. This is really our time to look at everything and say ‘Oh my god, I did this.’ ” Spilker won an award for her designs, which will be announced at the show Saturday.