The music blared and fabric flew Friday at the College of Textiles atrium on Centennial Campus where the African American Textile Society once again presented its annual fashion expose.

Student designers were given the chance to not only meet professionals in the fashion industry but to also show off their latest designs while competing for top placement.

Assistant coordinator of diversity programs for the College of Textiles April Wilson, a primary advisor for the event, explained that the main focus this year was to raise money to start a scholarship for the contestants.

Although the show is open to all students who are interested, not everyone is eligible to receive prize money.

“Anyone can enter, but only College of Textiles students can receive prizes,” Wilson said.

A reported $2,625 was given away in prize-money scholarships to contestants during the show.

Janza Bush, a senior in textile and apparel management and president of the African American Textile Society, said the show has played an important role in helping to increase communication between faculty and students in the College of Textiles.

“This was the best show we’ve done in recent years,” Bush said. “It was a big success.”

Bush said the show can be challenging to organize, but that she ran into relatively few problems this year.

“It’s important to prepare early and make sure you have enough people to help out,” Bush said. “Luckily, this year I had a lot of support and it went really well.”

Wilson expressed similar sentiments, saying they ran into no major problems while producing this year’s show.

“Other than a couple of behind-the-scenes difficulties, the show went perfectly,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t have asked for a more seamless production.”

Jonathan Gatlin, a senior in textile and apparel management who received first place in the senior class division as well as best in show and the audience award, said the show offers a great source of encouragement for student designers.

“You always question your work no matter how much you put into it,” Gatlin said. “This is definitely a source of confirmation for all that work.”

Cindy Istook, associate professor for textile and apparel technology and management, said the show provided students with insight that they cannot gain in a classroom setting.

“It offers students an opportunity to be pushed, because they know they are in competition,” Istook said. “It’s different from a classroom situation and lets them have a feel of what it would really be like to be in the fashion industry.”

Wilson said the success of this year’s show was a result of the support she received from all individuals involved in the production and she is looking forward to next year.

“I’m beyond happy, this is almost triple the size of last year’s show,” Wilson said. “The support of the faculty and staff has been tremendous.”