Texas Tech University student designers used U.S. cotton-rich denim to produce fashionable apparel for the second annual “Denim Runway” design contest, co-sponsored by Cotton Council International (CCI) and Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) in collaboration with the university's College of Human Sciences Department of Design's Apparel Design and Manufacturing (ADM) program. Four students won prizes for their cotton creations, and judges announced the winners following the TECHstyle Senior Fashion Show in Lubbock, TX, on Saturday, April 30.
“Denim is a perennial consumer favorite, and U.S. cotton fiber is an important component of denim fabric,” said CCI President John D. Mitchell. “This design contest was an ideal opportunity to highlight the fashionable side of denim, as well as to give young designers first-hand experience in working with U.S. cotton denim fabric.”
CCI's COTTON USA Program will sponsor the two winning men's and women's jeans designers—Lauren Hogan, a senior ADM major from Corpus Christi, TX, and Lauren McGraw, a senior ADM major from Ellis, TX,—on a trip to the Colombiamoda trade show in Medellin, Colombia, to serve as ombudsmen for the U.S. cotton industry. Hogan and McGraw also will travel to PCCA's Denimatrix apparel facility in Guatemala under a sponsorship from PCCA.
The COTTON USA stand at Colombiamoda promotes U.S. cotton yarns and fabrics from Sourcing Program mills. At the show, the winning student designers will learn more about the U.S. cotton textile industry and apparel makers throughout the Western Hemisphere.
“Denim Runway” also gave participating students a look at the rest of the denim apparel supply chain, as they toured a local cotton farm during harvest, a cotton gin, and PCCA's denim mill, American Cotton Growers (ACG). They also observed U.S. cotton farmers' good environmental stewardship during their farm visit.
In addition to men's and women's jeans, this year's “Denim Runway” featured a Casual category, in which designers could create anything made with denim fabric, and a Cotton Trend Board category, in which the students predicted cotton fiber and apparel trends. Megan Curry, a senior ADM major from Dallas, TX, won the Casual category, and Erica Medrano, a senior ADM major from Houston, TX, won the Cotton Trend Board category.
Global consumers own an average of 6.37 pairs of jeans, and 23 percent own 10 or more pairs of jeans, according to CCI's 2010 Global Lifestyle Monitor (GLM). Sixty-three percent of global consumers surveyed love or enjoy wearing denim on a regular basis. The GLM is a joint CCI and Cotton Incorporated biennial study that researches consumer buying habits across 10 countries.
Cotton Council International (CCI)
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