By More than 20 students auditioned at the first of three model tryouts in the University Student Union ballrooms yesterday for the 26th annual Campus Couture fashion show this coming May.
Naomi Link, head coordinator of Campus Couture, said the tryout allowed students to give their information and measurements and show their runway walk.
Link said the event is looking for about 100 models to participate in the fashion show, but as far as qualifications go, she said the tryouts are open to all applicants.
“It’s not really about weight or height,” Link said. “We are looking for people who are poised, relaxed, graceful, confident and [have] a nice posture.”
Mary MacIntyre, a senior drawing and painting major, tried out and said she thinks she has a good chance.
“I’m pretty confident about it,” MacIntyre said. “I did Campus Couture last year, and I believe the tryout went well.”
First-timers, like senior fashion merchandising major Michelle Finger, also tried out.
“I was kind of shaky, and nervous,” she said. “It was a last-minute thing and it was a fun experience.”
The students chosen will model designs created by seniors and juniors in the fashion merchandising and design program.
“We have 20 senior designers, and each will put out their own line they’ve been creating all year, while juniors enter one piece,” Link said.
She said a fashion line is comprised of five to eight pieces.
The winner of Campus Couture will have his or her fashion designs featured in Project Ethos at LA Fashion Week. Project Ethos is an outlet for emerging fashion, music and art, according to its website.
“It is a good way to advertise the school and the designer,” Link said.
For the event, the fashion merchandising and design program aims to raise roughly $30,000, she said.
“We do a lot of fundraising,” she said. “We’ve done a couple bar fundraisers, yard sales, candy sales and ad and sponsor donations.”
In addition to fundraising, some of the funding will come from a grant through Associated Students Inc. and students in the fashion promotion class, according to Link.
“There’s about 40 in the class, and they each have to raise $150 in the class,” Link said.
The next two model tryouts for Campus Couture will be held in the spring, but dates have not been set yet.
The Campus Couture fashion show will be in the Carpenter Performing Arts Center May 9 at 7 p.m.
