With a little less than two weeks from 2019 The Fashion Show to go, all involved committees are in the thicke of the hustle and bustle leading up to the major campus event. Friday night, from 6 p.m to 9 p.m., the Memorial Union sunroom was filled with Iowa State Students and faculty taking part of the annual Meet the Judges Event.

Meet the Judges is put on by the Alumni and Community Relations Committee with the help of the Design Committee, who works very closely with the judges. Meet the Judges is a networking event for students and faculty at Iowa State University, specifically within the Apparel Merchandising and Design Department.

“The people who come will have the opportunity to go network with [the judges] and hear about what they do on a day to day basis, just get to know them. Hopefully some networking will come out of it.” Said Alex Paustian, a co-director of Alumni and Community relations committee. The two other co-directors of Alumni and Community relations are Presley Eldien and Jess Bahnsen.

The Memorial Union Sunroom was beautifully decorated with tablecloths and floral arrangements. Fun music was pumping through the room as the anticipating students and faculty began to arrive. Once the room was nearly full, participants were encouraged to grab a plate of food or dessert that was catered in.

After attendees were settled at their tables with their dinner, Paustian, Eldien, and Bahnsen, the three Alumni and Community Relations co-directors, kicked off the event by introducing themselves and next speaker Eulanda Sanders, department chair of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality.

Dr. Sanders thanked all who are associated with The Fashion Show for their hard work. “It’s been so fun over the years that I’ve been here to watch the whole fashion show grow, and have a fashion week that is this vibrant, and really a premiere event for Iowa State University.” Sander said.

After Sanders spoke, Design co-directors Elissa Best and Abigail Geezer introduced the four guest judges. Best and Geezer work with one other co-director, Grace Lonquist, who was unable to attend due to illness.

 Presley Eldien then released attendees to go network with the four judges who would each be at their own table to take questions and engage in conversation with students and faculty.

The first guest judge, Telicia Bunch, a former ISU Delta Zeta as well as a cheerleader, is now living in New York City as Manager of Technical Design for Reese Witherspoon clothing line, Draper James. Lisa Bradshaw is another one of the four judges and an ISU alum herself. She was involved in The Fashion Show all through college and was producer her senior year. She is now works for Abercrombie and Fitch as a planner. The next judge is Dr. Kathleen Smith, a professor in Apparel Merchandising and Product Development at the University of Arkansas. The last judge is Brittney Lynch is also an Iowa State alumni and is currently working as a creative designer for RE/DONE.

The judges are all so excited to be apart of this event and can’t wait to see the talent these students have to showcase. Bunch says of being asked to judge, “I think it’s the biggest honor ever.”

The Fashion Show will take place April 13th at Stephen’s Auditorium.