As hundreds of Journey fans in Hilton Coliseum looked up at lead vocalist Jeff Scott Soto with awe, one talented ISU student was able to point at him and say proudly, “That’s my design.”

Soto asked Ryan Zies, junior in apparel merchandising, design and production if he could wear Zies’ design. Zies said he came upon this opportunity through an imitation Journey band from Las Vegas.

“I was in Los Angeles this summer to do my internship, and I went to Vegas to take a vacation,” Zies said. “I ended up meeting what I thought was Journey, but they ended up being a fake band that imitated them. They said they would wear my clothes on stage.”

After the concert, Zies said he e-mailed the real Journey. The band took an interest in him and asked him for more information and his Web site. He acted right away.

“I sent them [a link] and forwarded it to their manager,” Zies said. “I didn’t hear anything until Thursday around 3 [p.m.] and the lead singer called me up on my cell phone and said, ‘Hey, this is Jeff. I was wondering if I could wear your clothes tonight on stage.’ I said, ‘Yeah dude! For sure!'”

Hearing that question, Zies said, was one of the biggest honors of his life. He took one of his close friends, Michelle Feazell, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, who said it was an amazing experience.

“I went to support Ryan,” Feazell said. “It was surreal for him. I remember seeing him call his mom when we got there and his eyes welling up.”

Zies said he was so grateful for the opportunity to meet his idols, he couldn’t charge Soto for the costumes.

“I gave them to him for free, because it was such an honor just to talk to him. They took me backstage, and I hung out with Def Leopard all day,” Zies said. “I was there for sound check. I got to go backstage and hang out. I even sat with Journey for part of the Def Leppard concert. We talked about how they got started and how the tour was going. It was amazing.”

Zies said he can remember listening to his parents playing Journey on vinyl records growing up. He said Journey even helped in his career as the band was one of the biggest influences in his design.

“I think [Soto] looked really good on stage that night,” said Caitlin Kooienga, junior in psychology. “His clothes really fit the music in the concert. It was great.”

“Music is my biggest influence in my clothes,” Zies said. “I get a lot of my ideas looking at the styles that come from classic rock, with Journey and Def Leppard being two of my biggest influences. If you look at the clothes, they’re distressed and bleached out.”

Zies has been designing his own clothes since he was in high school, he said. In his adolescent years, while working at places like American Eagle, he would see little things he would like to change. One of the biggest problems in the clothing industry, he said, is the mass production of everything.

“Clothes are a way for me to be unique and stand out from everyone else,” Zies said. “You can see so many people with the same exact shirt on walking to class.”

With his designs, Zies said he sees to it that each of his clothes is a little bit different.

Zies’ efforts have paid off. During his internship, he started his own clothing line, and since then, the line has taken off.

“At my internship at Rock N Reconstruct, one of the ladies there talked to me about my clothes,” Zies said. “She thought it would have a huge potential market. She kept telling me to start my own label. Finally, the last two weeks of my internship, she gave me a lot of time on the side to do it and so I started it.”

After he started his line, Zies met a man at a fashion show named Tyshawn Bryant, who has acted in many commercials and wore his clothes to a premiere. Since then, he has had a lot of orders.

Kooienga said she looks forward to being in the Pulse fashion show with Zies in October, where they first met last year.

“He has a great sense of style,” Kooienga said. “It’s really original and funky. I’ve seen some of his girl’s clothes, and they’re awesome.”

Zies plans on graduating this May, then moving to Los Angeles to bring his clothing line to the next level.