Fashion and modeling come to Ames as the ISU Textiles and Clothing Fashion Show stomps into Stephens Auditorium this Friday.

In its 26th year, the Fashion Show has blossomed into the most prominent event in the textiles and clothing program and is one of the largest student-run events at Iowa State.

The show first began in 1982, in McKay Auditorium, and then had to be moved to Fisher Theatre, said Jennifer Starr, public relations co-director of the Fashion Show and senior in apparel merchandising, design and production. “We had to move it to Stephens Auditorium two years ago because so many people come,” Starr said.

While past shows have had a title, such as “Pulse” or “Reflect,” the producers this year decided to name the show “the Fashion Show” as an attempt to brand it, said Payam Imani, co-producer for the show and senior in apparel merchandising, design and production. “We want to make the Fashion Show its own event, one that people recognize and want to go to every year,” Imani said.

Starr agreed. “We want it to be something as hyped up for and as inevitable for students to attend as Homecoming and Veishea,” she said.

The fashion show was begun by a group of students that got together to create garments and held a show to display their work, said Sara Marcketti, faculty advisor for the Fashion Show and assistant professor of apparel, educational studies and hospitality management. The show became a class eight years ago and now focuses on all aspects of holding a fashion show – from designing a set and choosing garments to publicizing for the event. Only students in the apparel, educational studies and hospitality management department can apply to become part of the class, but any student can submit designs for potential entry into the show.

Francesca Skwark, co-producer of the Fashion Show and senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, students may enter their designs in a variety of categories: children’s, casual, urban, experimental, evening, collection, historical, 2-D/3-D, designer, accessories, portfolio and graduate.

“These categories are not all for garments,” Skwark said. “But they offer chances for more people to enter.”

On April 5, fashion industry professionals from around the nation came to judge the 168 entries for submission into the Fashion Show. This year’s judges included Lisa Ann Dodge, vice president of merchandising for Topson Downs, Erin Wignall, head women’s designer for Obey Clothing, Lisa Rothgeb, a technical designer for Target, and Barbara Trout, an associate professor of textiles, clothing and design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“We have a creative judge, an educational judge and a technical judge,” Skwark said.

The judges looked at every entry submitted and judged on the categories of creativity, the quality of the entry and the technicality of the designer.

“We started with over 168 entries but, during judging day, 20 percent of the submissions are cut,” said Anna Broer, co-director of the design committee for the show and senior in apparel merchandising, design and production.

Once judging is over, fashion show directors have another task at hand: constructing a set. The set-tech committee is responsible for building the set and is given a budget, said Noah Swanson, co-director of the set-tech committee for the show and junior in apparel merchandising, design and production. “We are working on a clean design, focusing on colors, shapes and lights,” Swanson said.

“We also wanted to integrate Iowa State’s 150th anniversary into the show, which you can see on our posters with the Campanile,” Imani said.

Although the show’s name doesn’t evoke a theme, there will be a centralized theme that focuses on the progression from day to night. “Every committee helps with the show idea,” Skwark said.

Another part of the fashion show is the public relations and promotions. “We do everything we can, and the sky is the limit [in promoting]. This year, we’ve taken advantage of Facebook a lot,” Starr said.

In addition to Facebook, Behind the Scenes Day – the day before the Fashion Show – is time set aside for high school students from Des Moines and the surrounding area to learn about the apparel merchandising, design and production major, Starr said.

The students will hear guest judge Todd Snyder, vice president of menswear for J. Crew and an ISU alumnus, speak about the fashion industry. Snyder will also judge the entries.

The Fashion Show is also hosting an event for alumni Saturday, so alumni will have a chance to look at portfolios of students’ work and re-connect with each other, Starr said. This is second year the show will hosting this kind of event.

Such promotion and publicity has helped The Fashion Show increase ticket sales. As of late last week, the Fashion Show had sold over 1800 tickets – the most tickets ever sold for the event.

“We typically have 20 percent of our total sales on the day of the show,” Marcketti said. “We have the potential to sell far more tickets than we expected.”

Once the Fashion Show ends, it will not fade from sight. Starting May 9, the first and second place winners of each category in the show will be displayed in the Mary Alice Gallery of Morrill Hall for the public to view, Marcketti said.

The Fashion Show will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Stephens Auditorium. At 5:30 p.m. there will be time for the audience to look at the other entries in the show, such as students’ portfolios and accessories. Tickets are $15 for ISU students and $20 for the public and are available through Ticketmaster or at the University Ticket Box Office.