Three fashion designs from Central were accepted into the International Textile and Apparel Association’s design competition this year.

​Central apparel, textile and merchandising senior Ryanne Durfee, Central alumna Krissy Knutz and associate professor of apparel, textiles and merchandising Andrea Eklund’s designs were accepted into the prestigious competition.

The International Textile and Apparel Association holds one of the most rigorous design competitions in the world every year in Charlotte, N.C.

The International Textile and Apparel Association accepted only 313 designs this year. Of those, only 105 were selected for the live gallery show on Nov. 12.

Eklund’s design, “Haunting Darkness,” was accepted into the competition at a professional level.

The design was inspired by the gorgeous cemeteries in New Orleans, where Eklund attended an annual conference.

“I was fascinated by the cemeteries there. They are so beautiful, yet so dark at the same time, so I brought those two concepts into the design,” Eklund said.

Eklund also incorporated a pleating technique that she learned during a workshop in Montreal.

Inspired by the famous designer, Madame Gres, Eklund used a specific hand technique to pleat the bodice of the piece.

Last year, Eklund took a class on working with alligator. The whole back of the dress is real alligator leather, with alligator feet as the shoulder accents.

“The goal was to use the different techniques I have learned and incorporate them into one garment, which was fun, but took a very long time,” Eklund said.

Eklund said that designing and creating the piece was a very long and tedious process.

“It took me quite awhile,” Eklund said. “It took me probably over 200 hours total on one garment.”

Every year Eklund submits a piece into the competition every year. She requires her students to do the same. It was Eklund’s goal to make it into the competition but also to challenge herself and try new things this year.

“I wanted to push myself and develop,” Eklund said. “I have never worked with alligator or that pleating technique on a garment before, so I wanted to use those skills.”

Knutz is the former vice president of the Student Fashion Association. Knutz’s piece, “Marguerite,” which she designed before she graduated in the spring, was accepted into the competition this year.

Knutz’s design is a long bell-sleeve lace crop top. Knutz learned the dying technique she used on the top from a theatre design class she took last year. The class is also where she got the inspiration for her design.

Knutz dyed the lace of her piece in coffee to give it a vintage, Victorian look. Crop tops have been in style recently, but Knutz wanted her piece to be different.

“I didn’t want to make the crop top that ‘little girl’ look, I wanted my design to be more sophisticated,” Knutz said. “I also noticed bell-sleeves are coming into fashion so I took the two styles and put them together.”

Knutz’s goal was to create an elegant looking crop top with long sleeves, as opposed to the short-sleeved crop tops that are usually seen.

“I chose a deep wine colored skirt to make the crème colored top really pop,” Knutz said. “The colors look really rich together.”

Knutz explained that making it into the competition was unexpected. The designs she had entered into the competition in the past had not been chosen, and she was honored when she found out “Marguerite” made it in.

“I was really excited when I found out my design had been selected,” Knutz said. “I was really happy that I had put all this work and time into this design and the hard work paid off.”

Durfee also designed a piece that was selected into the competition. Durfee is currently studying fashion abroad in Italy. Durfee’s design, “Walk the Line,” is a short, black, backless dress.

The International Textile and Apparel Association competition was reviewed by a double blind jury and evaluated on criteria such as technique and innovation of design. It is one of the hardest competitions to get into, and the winner of the competition gets a paid semester of design school in France.

Although none of the pieces won any awards at the competition, Eklund is grateful her and her student’s work got selected.

“I’m so excited whenever my students make it into the competition because it’s very difficult to get in,” Eklund said.