“Her designs are really cool,” she said. “There was a battery pack inside (this) dress.”

On Monday, the nutritional sciences and human biology junior modeled a LED light-covered dress at a reception kicking off the third annual Apparel and Textile Design Exhibit. The exhibit will be on display until Dec. 3 in Kresge Art Center’s Gallery 101.

Lauren Dale, the apparel and textile design junior who created the dress Harper modeled, was one of the many students whose work was shown in the gallery. She said this year, the designers included a new element in their work.

“We focused on e-textiles — that was something that was new,” she said. “In class, (my professor) taught students how to apply LED lights and wires that illuminated things on the garments.”

Assistant professor of apparel and textile design Theresa Winge said she instructed students to create designs using these lights in her class, Design Methods and Approaches, and several of the students incorporated the lights into their work.

“E-textiles have electronic circuitry, which power illumination, sound, monitors, transistors and computers,” she said. “They have a significant history with apparel design for monitoring health issues, illuminating safety gear and enhancing aesthetics.”

Dale was one of several students selected by Winge to be an exhibit curator and choose which designs would appear in the exhibit.

As she searched through the work the students submitted, Dale said the team of jurors wasn’t looking for commercial clothing but garments
that might be seen on the runway.

“We were really looking for pieces that made a bold statement,” she said. “Something structurally and aesthetically different.”

After the selection process was finished, Dale said the jury selected 20 3-D designs, three textiles and a multitude of 2-D designs and photographs to showcase. The display featured an array of avant-garde dresses on standing mannequins, as well as designs that hung on the walls.
Winge said the exhibit is key to highlighting the talent and the thoroughness of the apparel and textile design students’ work.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for students to present designs that feature intricate and subtle details that may be lost on the runway of a fashion show,” she said.

After the students’ designs and the introduction of new technology in the show proved to be a success, Winge said she’s certain the exhibit is a project the students and faculty will be sure to carry on.

“This exhibit provides the ATD students with opportunities to display their 3-D and 2-D designs,” she said. “We hope to continue the tradition every fall.”