Kent State Fashion Design Students to Show Collections in New York Fashion Week

Two Kent State University Fashion School students will compete in the Supima Design Competition, a fashion design contest that culminates in a New York Fashion Week runway show at Lincoln Center with a $10,000 grand prize.

Kent State senior fashion design majors Will Riddle and Sylvia Bukowski will compete against students from the Rhode Island School of Design, the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Savannah College of Art and Design as part of the Supima Design Competition. Each school in the competition was asked to select two graduating students as representatives.

“Each contestant must create a capsule collection from Superior Pima Cotton fabrics supplied by the organization, and each contestant will show his or her collection on the runway in Lincoln Center during the September 2013 NYC Fashion Week,” explained Kent State's Fashion School Director J.R. Campbell, who announced the selected contestants at the Fashion School’s Annual Fashion Show that took place April 27.

Riddle was the winner of the Eveningwear/Formal Wear Award at this year’s Annual Fashion School Fashion Show, and Bukowski won the Knitwear Collection Award.

The students will work with premium Supima denims, knits, corduroys, twills and shirting to create five evening looks. A panel of industry experts will judge the collections at the Fashion Week runway show. Last year’s panel included Gilt Groupe founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, model and entrepreneur Coco Rocha, Bloomingdale’s vice president Kevin Harter and designers Nicole Miller and Charlotte Ronson.

“I'm excited and nervous at the same time,” Bukowski said. “It’s every designer’s dream to be showing at Lincoln Center during Fashion Week.”

Vince Quevedo, Kent State associate professor of fashion design, will serve as Bukowski’s faculty mentor, and Sherry Schofield, Kent State associate professor of fashion design, will serve as Riddle’s mentor.

“This opportunity is so amazing for the students," Schofield said. "They could work their entire life and never get an opportunity to show their own capsule collection on the runway during New York Fashion Week. So to be showing their work just months after graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity. And I know that our students are up for the task and will show well.”

Founded in 1954, Supima is a non-profit organization promoting American Pima cotton, a high-quality variety of cotton grown in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The Supima Design Competition began in 2008.

For more information about Kent State's Fashion School, visit www.kent.edu/artscollege/fashion.

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Photo from Sylvia Bukowski's Collection:
Sylvia Bukowski's collection "Deco" is Sylvia's interpretation of Muqarna, a specific, comb-like pattern found in Islamic architecture.

Photo from Will Riddle’s Collection:
Will Riddle’s collection “Nyx” is the Greek goddess and personification of the night. “As a figure of exceptional power and beauty, she is found in the shadows of the world and only ever seen in glimpses,” he said.

Media Contacts:
Effie Tsengas, etsengas@kent.edu, 330-672-8398
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595