Grand design

NCSU students' Art to Wear fashion show grows glitzier and attracts a big, appreciative audience for its seventh edition

RALEIGH -- Adrienne McKenzie stayed up all night one night to sew 496 pearls onto a dress.

Jessica George spent 20 hours weaving and dyeing one piece of fabric.

Shelley Smith saved months of coffee filters and tea bags to make two of her dresses.

The dedication N.C. State University students put into their craft for the school's annual Art to Wear fashion show has intensified.

In its seventh year, the show Thursday night was more dazzling than ever. With an expanded runway, a giant projection screen and more than 2,500 people filling the grassy Court of North Carolina, the show took on a new level of production quality and a broader popularity far from its humble beginnings.

Seated guests, which included Tony award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long and N.C. Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain, even left with a gift -- a lime green cloth bag, sponsored by Ornamentea, that held the show's program.

"It's fantastic to see how this has grown over the years," Long said. "It's not just a class anymore."

The show, which is a collaboration between the College of Design and College of Textiles, had 15 collections by 17 student designers. Several worked double time to help organize the show and raise money. For the first time, organizers, led by student director Liz Morrison, sold reserved seats near the runway for $10 donations. More than two dozen university groups and community businesses, including Jerry's Artarama, Mortex and Cline Design Architects, also contributed to the show, almost doubling the number from last year.

As in years past, the show collections were split into two categories. There were the wearable, such as Justin LeBlanc's Seven Deadly Sins collection of seven sexy and sultry black dresses. And then there were the showpieces, designed to create drama or inspire new ways of thinking, such as the Islamic wedding dress by Vansana Nolintha, a senior chemistry and art and design student. That dress was so wide, it spilled over the runway.

Details make for standouts

Among the collections that could actually be worn off the runway was one from George, a senior studying art and design who gave new meaning to the classic wrap dress. She said she spent three months weaving the upholstery-weight fabric and dyeing it in a variety of rainbow colors. Each piece was about eight yards long, and on each model, she wrapped, twisted and tucked the fabric to create a different look.

By using vibrant shades of pink, yellow and orange, George said she wanted to create a Caribbean/West African feel for the collection, but "more contemporary, something people could relate to now."

The standout was a halter top cocktail-length dress with a flowing train.

Jenna Bost, a junior studying textile technology and art and design, also wove and dyed the fabric she used for her collection of dresses, designed to represent the natural elements of earth, air, fire, water and light. Her cotton gowns were woven with metallic gold or silver threads and wire so the dresses could be sculpted to the body.

That dedication to the details helped McKenzie's costumelike collection stand out. Her Harajuku dolls were among the most dramatic looks of the night, although they could only be fully appreciated up close. The dolls' dresses, each created with a historical theme from Marie Antoinette to Victorian goth, were awash in an astounding variety of intricate detailing, including beading, lace trim, ruffles and bows.

"I love details," she said.

A senior studying art and design who hopes to become a costume designer on Broadway, McKenzie said she had worked on her collection since Christmas, heavily focusing on those extra touches.