The Cyclone Clothing Collection contest provided fashion students with the opportunity to design clothing from start to finish. After their work was judged, the first and second-place winners earned a trip to New York Fashion Week.
Elli Allen, a senior in apparel merchandising and design, won first place with her clone cone design. She said the objective was to create clothing for women that wasn’t specifically sports apparel, so she decided to post a survey to social media and surveyed her friends and family.
“What everyone wants is fan clothing that doesn’t look like it’s from Iowa State,” Allen said.
Allen said she came up with a “cute vintage design” because vintage is popular, and she sees a lot of her friends and residents at Martin Hall, where she is an RA, wearing vintage.
“I included the clone cone because I think it’s really cute,” Allen said. “It’s one of my favorite parts about sports that isn’t really related to sports.”
Allen and the second-place winner, Kai Huntoon, a junior in apparel merchandising and design, went to New York together and got to experience Fashion Week.
“We got to hear the panel by the IMG (International Management Group) models and the entertainment offices, and then, of course, we also got to see the fashion show,” Allen said.
Furthermore, Allen said aside from the program events, they were able to explore New York City. She said they went to Chinatown and the Empire State Building.
“It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Allen said.
Allen also mentioned that the program provided food, a credit card and airport pick-up.
“They treated us like celebrities,” she said.
Ben Vinar, Iowa State’s assistant director of trademark licensing, initiated the idea of the contest to decide who could go to New York Fashion Week.
“I think some schools have [students] write an essay and you get to go [and] we thought, ‘well we could have more fun than that,’” Vinar said. “So we landed on, ‘what if we do a design contest with how big the fashion and apparel program is on campus?’”
Similarly, Emily Worrall, the Cyclones Take New York Co-Lead, said she and Vinar wanted to give everyone an equal opportunity.
“We put our minds together and came up with a contest… and then the university picked it up,” Worrall said.
Vinar said not many other schools are doing design contest seminars.
“It’s unique, it’s [a] unique opportunity,” Vinar said. “It kind of plays on the whole innovation thing that Iowa State’s pushing as their big campaign.”
Furthermore, Worrall said the students get to work with industry partners and “real world” retailers and manufacturers.
“It’s going into retail stores, and then you’re actually getting to go to the real New York Fashion [Week],” Worrall said. “So it’s not just like a rubric. This is something anyone from across campus can take on and so that’s a really unique thing for Iowa State to back and support.”
Piper Michalski, a junior in apparel merchandising and design, won third place. She said she went to the info session, felt inspired and started doing research.
“I looked at what the bookstore has and what innovate 1858 has and started to kind of see and think like, ‘what do they not have that I’m looking for?’” Michalski said. “That’s kind of where the whole idea of the sweat set started for me.”
Additionally, she said the experience was very fulfilling for her and she never expected to have an experience like this.
“Seeing people buying the product that I designed was definitely very reassuring,” Michalski said. “Seeing that people liked what I made and liked it as much as I do. I think that means a lot to me and that’ll definitely stay with me.”
For more information on the season one designs and winners, visit their website.
“I learned to have confidence in yourself,” Allen said. “You’re constantly surrounded by talented, incredible people and it seems like they’re so far ahead of you, but then just getting to talk to people, you realize that everyone’s pretty close to the same.”
