A female-only model casting on Nov. 6 and 7 marked the start of The Fashion Show 2014.

“We saw a lot of great potential models last week,” said Sarah Bennett, adviser for The Fashion Show. “The modeling directors are going to have a tough time making their final decisions.”

Hosting tryouts in a new location in LeBaron Hall this year, Bennett said she commends the modeling directors and committee members for organizing the logistics of model casting in advance, and for working to get everyone checked in, measured and photographed in a timely manner.

“Modeling tryouts went great,” Bennett said. “We ended up having close to 200 people come to try-out. The whole process was very smooth.”

The annual event, set for April 5 at Stephens Auditorium, will feature both men’s and women’s garments, despite the recent all-female model casting.

“We still want to see menswear designs submitted for the show,” Bennett said. “For the past few years, however, we haven’t had very many menswear submissions.”

In the past the number of menswear designs has been lower than female designs; this year, The Fashion Show 2014 team has chosen to wait to have a male model casting for the show.

“It makes it very difficult on the designers who submit menswear when the models are selected by The Fashion Show in November don’t necessarily fit the garments they have designed,” Bennett said. “We are just going to wait to select the male models until we have a better sense of who we will need for the show this year.”

Bennett and the modeling directors do not feel the later casting date will have a negative impact on the number of menswear designs in The Fashion Show.

“I think that students design garments for the show based on their personal interests and strengths, not based on the models that are selected,” Bennett said. “I have heard of a few students starting to consider menswear garments for the show, and they haven’t indicated that they are changing their minds now.”

Lauryn Stromberg, junior in apparel design and a modeling director for the show, said she does not feel the amount of menswear designers at Iowa State is depleting.

“I don’t think that the overall number of menswear designers on campus this year will feel at a disadvantage about their submission or creation of menswear garments,” Stromberg said. “The Fashion Show is just taking a different route this year to ensure that we are able to make informed decisions about selecting male models for our menswear designer’s garments, as well as potentially the guest designer’s garments.”

Each year, The Fashion Show invites a guest designer to showcase his or her line, using models from Iowa State.

“We want to make sure that we meet the needs of our potential guest designer,” Bennett said. “For example, when Todd Snyder was our guest designer two years ago, he was able to provide us with the exact measurements and show sizes of male models for his collection before we even had try-outs.”

This year, Bennett said she feels the later male model casting will help the show overall.

“We want to make sure that if we do need male models for our guest designer this year, that we are able to make informed decisions about selecting models who fit the garments as well as possible,” Bennett said.

Overall, The Fashion Show 2014 team feels having two separate castings, one for females and a later one for males, will impact the show positively.

“Designers in our program will feel confident that we will arrange for them to have a male to model their designs if they are interested in creating anything in the menswear category,” Stromberg said. “I am hoping to get a record number of menswear entries this year.”