The first week of class brought excitement to one ISU apparel design student who watched an annual award ceremony to see her design worn at the event.

Whitney Rorah, graduate student in apparel, events and hospitality management, had one of the gowns she designed for her Primavera Collection worn at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Jan. 15.

“I like to think of it as a really good opportunity just because it was a lot of exposure for me in front of all those celebrities,” Rorah said.

Rorah said she worked the night of the awards show waitressing at Olde Main Brewing Company in Ames.

“I convinced my manager to turn the TV to the Critics’ Choice Awards that night, so I could kind of work back and forth and peek at the TV while I was working,” Rorah said. “It didn’t hit me until 8 p.m. when it started. It really didn’t hit me at all.” 

Theresa O’Leary, marketing and events manager at Hotel Phillips in Kansas City, wore Rorah’s “Luella” gown to the event.

“Instantly when I walked in I could tell everyone was just looking at the dress,” O’Leary said. 

O’Leary said she attended the Critics’ Choice Awards this year for the second time with her boyfriend, Shawn Edwards, a film critic for Fox News in Kansas City. Edwards is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which O’Leary said is the association that votes on everything for the Critics’ Choice Awards.

This year, the couple sat at a dinner table with the cast and crew behind the movie “Selma.”

“I’m sitting at a table with Cuba Gooding Jr. and you look to your left and there’s Oprah starring at you,” O’Leary said. “It’s totally surreal.”

O’Leary said she chose Rorah as her designer after receiving a list of potential designers from Teisha Barber, president of Kansas City Fashion Week. The dress O’Leary selected to wear to the Critics’ Choice Awards is part of the collection that won Rorah the $10,000 Fashion Institute Midwest Fashion Cup award in August.

“Whitney’s stuff stood out to me because it looked like they were really high quality pieces,” O’Leary said. “Her product looked a lot more professional than some of the other girls.’”

Rorah and O’Leary said they worked together since the beginning of January to alter the gown for the event. The process included two fittings and one small alteration before Rorah said it was ready to give to O’Leary.

“We met at a really nice rest stop between Kansas City and Des Moines,” Rorah said. “It didn’t quite fit right and so I pulled out my sewing machine and plugged it into one of the bathroom outlets and did the last alteration right there.”

Christina Denekas, lecturer in apparel, events and hospitality management, said it is Rorah’s drive that has made Rorah successful.

“She stood out to me because I was always impressed with the questions she had because they were very thoughtful questions,” Denekas said. “Her designs were something I hadn’t seen from students before at that level.”

Rorah said she completed her undergraduate degree in apparel, merchandising and design in May and is currently a graduate student at Iowa State in the same department. She also said she is engaged.

“It’s been a crazy whirlwind it seems like,” Rorah said. “The excitement or drama never stops.”