Design students, IU RSO present fashion show

Student designers will showcase their talent to friends, family and members of the IU community today.

The IU Retail Studies Organization will present its annual Fashion Show at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union.

“This year, we will highlight designers more than ever,” said junior Katie Scott, the executive vice president of programming for RSO. “It’ll have a sleeker, more modern feel. This year will feel more like a real fashion show.”

The show is sponsored by CollegeFashionista, a fashion website where students discuss current trends, share beauty tips and distribute style advice from campuses
nation-wide.

Paul Mitchell, the Sage Collection and the IU Student Association will also sponsor the event.

CollegeFashionista will provide a photo booth for attendees, and Paul Mitchell will style hair and make-up for runway models. Campus Candy will supply treats to the
audience.

The fashion show is RSO’s spring capstone event, and they will showcase several designs from apparel merchandising students in the fashion design program.
Students in the interior design program also designed and created an arch to cover the runway.

This year’s fashion show is expected to be the biggest yet, with a change in venue and in number of sponsors.

RSO is expecting more than 500 attendees, senior and RSO President Kelsey Pepmeier, said.

Many of the designs will reveal trends one can expect to see on the runway and on the streets in upcoming seasons, she said.

Designers and their mantras, quotes they’ve picked from people who have inspired them, will be displayed by a projector as models walk the runway, Scott said.
“The Fashion Show is the one chance for designers to showcase their work,” Scott said.

But fashion design students must earn a spot in the show.

“They must be skilled,” Scott said. “Only juniors and seniors can showcase their designs.”

One designer worked at New York Fashion Week this past February, and another is currently interning with Michael Kors.

“There’s even a wedding dress,” Scott said.

RSO is composed of students with a variety of interests in fashion and retail.

It’s one of the largest organizations on campus, with more than 400 students majoring in a range of subjects, including apparel merchandising, fashion design, journalism and business.

Each year, the organization travels to New York City, Chicago and across Indiana to meet industry professionals and leading designers.

Designers, brand representatives, CEOs of fashion companies and other industry professionals also visit IU to speak with RSO members and AMID students.

“Design is an integral part of retail,” Pepmeier said.

“The fashion show allows designers with an artistic vision to give a voice behind their designs.”