Her room is covered in bits and pieces of bright saffron-colored nylon cloth. In one corner a dress created from that fabric hangs on a mannequin, in the other corner, Amanda Barret, a senior in textile technology and art and design, leans over a sewing machine putting the finishing touches on one of her four pieces for the fashion show, co-sponsored by the College of Design and the College of Textiles, Collection: Art to Wear.

Thirteen designers in the two schools spent months planning, designing, sewing and altering their fashion creations for the show. The day of the show they spend hours before working with their models, making sure their hair and make-up are perfect, fixing last-minute issues and chatting with other designers. When it’s time, the models walk down the stage, the finished product of months of work.

It all starts with the fabric, though. Barret, who has done work with recycled materials, is using something special.

“I’m using the fabric from ‘The Gates’, by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, in New York City,” Barret said. “I felt like I had to do something to live up to it.”

“The Gates” was a temporary outdoor art exhibition at Central Park in New York City.

Nina Tie, a junior in textile and apparel management and textile technology, went with satin for the majority of her work to fit with her theme — pearls and lace.

“I’ve always liked [satin]; it’s not hard to deal with, and it’s pretty too,” Tie said. “It’s classy.”

One designer, Chris Jordan, a senior in textile and apparel management, picked his fabrics on personal choice.

“I use multiple fabrics,” Jordan said, “I have an extreme love for houndstooth. I was looking for a houndstooth with a big motif.”

Once the fabrics were gathered, the work began on sewing the pieces.

“I’ll probably be working until four on Friday,” Garret said.

One of the important aspects of the presentation for the clothes is the model wearing them and their personality.

“It’s not about picking a model that fits in the clothes. It’s about having that panache,” Garret said.

Some of the designers used their models for inspiration for the clothes.

“He designed [our dresses] based on what our personalities are like,” Leah Dorsey, a senior in textile and apparel management, said about Jordan’s dresses.

On the day of the show, last-minute alterations are made and then the models go through make-up and hair. Each model is on stage for less than a minute before it’s all done, leaving months of work to be impressed upon by the audience, many of whom walk away with a favorite, such as Adrea Whitley, who enjoyed Jonathan Gatlin’s creations.

“I like the theme that he had going,” Whitley said. “His designs were creative.”

The designers walked away, too, with impression of their show.

“If you had told me in the beginning that I was to take these six dresses and these six models, I would have thought it crazy to turn it out this good, ” Jordan said.