Latest Dispatches from

Textiles and Apparel

TAPP students Christina Cerruti and Codye Lazear traveled to Grand Rapids, MN on April 20-21 to meet and confer with the Site Director of the Forest History Center, a division of the Minnesota Historical Society. The students had spent the semester researching the historical dress of women who populated winter logging camps in Minnesota during the early 1900's. In a presentation, they shared their findings with the Site Director and a bevy of historical interpreters who work in a period logging camp during the summer months. The work was funded by a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society as well as a research grant from the Letitia Walsh Scholarship, offered by the Department of Design, Textiles, Gerontology & Family studies.
 

Accompanying the students were Drs. Annette Lynch and Mitchell Strauss. The presentation was exceptionally well received. Below are photographs of Christina and Codye during their joint presentation:
 

And here's the story covered by our school paper, the Northern Iowan: (click on the logo)
 

Multi-award winning apparel designer/artist Cat Chow spent two days at the University of Northern Iowa conducting lectures and work shops with the Textile and Apparel program as well as the Theatre and Art departments. Click on her image above for the full report of her visit.

In what has turned out to be a very busy travel season for TAPP students and faculty, a recent tour was just completed of the Chicago area textile and apparel industry, as well as the Chicago Textile and Apparel Career Fair.
 

From the 8 through the 10th of November, Dr. Annette Lynch and 34 textile and apparel majors traversed Wisconsin and Illinois visiting a host of industry organizations, including the corporate offices of Kohl's, Hart, Shaffner & Marx, Sears Holdings, and Cintas. In addition, the Chicago History Museum and the design studio of Alice Berry were toured too. At the Chicago History Museum, a Christian Dior "New Look" Exhibit was viewed. Also a visit was made to Macy's of Chicago (formerly Marshall Fields) to see a Calvin Klein fashion presentation hosted Stacy Lord of TLC's "What Not to Wear."
 

Chicago Career Fair highlights included keynote addresses by Austin Scarlett, original winner of Bravo's "Project Runway" and Audrey Smaltz, CEO of the Ground Crew, a company that provides the fundamental and essential backstage support for fashion show productions. Clients include Donna Karan, Betsey Johnson and Oscar de la Renta. Various career oriented workshops were attended too.
 

Click on the above photograph for more details.

On October 13, 2006 the TAPP Student Association boarded a bus at 4:30 am to head north to Minneapolis to attend the Fashion Group International Annual Career Fair. It was a super experience, during which UNI TAPP majors were witness to presentations from leaders in the field of textiles and apparel, including the very top leaders of product design and development with Target Corporation. In addition to hearing great presentations, the students also had the opportunity to interact one-on-one and in small group sessions with industry leaders. This trip was made possible by the generosity of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences through a grant for student group support.
 

On a beautiful October Saturday Morning the University of Northern Iowa hosted its annual homecoming parade. Among the amazing array of floats was one created by the Textile and Apparel Association, currently led by President Tami Holdgrafer. The students should be congratulated for their energy and spirit that contributed to making such a fun float entry into the parade. The float won the "Good Sportsmanship" award. Awesome!!!

 

Dr. Annette Lynch was presented with the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence by the Iowa Board of Regents at a banquet on September 27, 2006. The is a super accomplishment for Dr. Lynch as it is the most prestigious award granted to faculty in the State of Iowa.
 

Winning this award should be no surprise to those who know, have worked with, or have been taught by Dr. Lynch. She is a highly dedicated member of the  community who has made a lasting impact on the University. For example, it has been very much Dr. Lynch's energy and vision that has positioned the Textile and Apparel program at UNI into one of the leading programs in the country. As testament, UNI's textile graduates have been first choice hires for product development by companies such as May Corporation, Lands' End and Target Corporation. As a former director of Women's Studies, Dr. Lynch brought onto campus two major U.S. Justice Department Grants focused on reducing gender violence among students. Her efforts spanned from placing improved lighting on campus to reorganizing orientation programs for students and student athletes to raise awareness of issues surrounding gender violence.
 

Congratulations Dr. Lynch!

Check out Cesium Magazine's Summer 2006 issue with two great articles about our show: (click on their logo below)

Here's the story covered by the Waterloo Cedar Fall Courier: (click on the photograph below)

 

RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer

 

And here's the story covered by our school paper, the Northern Iowan: (click on the logo)

Of course the design show depends on student designs created for the jury process. For example, below students in Dr. Lynch's Creative Design Foundations class work on their Non-Trad Project (apparel made from non traditional materials) Some of these designs, if made well enough, will make it into the design show!

 

Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster will be publishing "The Book of Spam" in 2007. This "Coffee Table Book" is intended to be a colorful exploration of the world of Hormel Spam. Brianna Smith, designer of the Spam Dress, shown in the 2005 Tapp Expo Design Show has been invited to have her creation professionally photographed and displayed in the book! Congratulations Brianna!

Tiffany Rudd, a senior TAPP Major served as Costume Designer for the David Lindsay-Abaire play Wonder of the World. The play occurred in October, 2005 at UNI's Bertha Martin Theatre. Below is a scene from the play with Tiffany's costumes. Way to go Tiffany!!!

The first annual Lands' End Scholars were selected by TAPP faculty in late September, 2005. Selection criteria were based upon student academic accomplishment, leadership, and career vision. Last spring, the Lands' End Company graciously agreed to offer two annual scholarships of $1000 each to students selected by the faculty. In addition to their scholarship, the winners are encouraged to seek a summer internship with Lands' End. Great congratulations to Brittany Lester and Erin Dixon, two of our most outstanding TAPP students!

Playing a part in the national effort to help those adversely impacted by the recently devastating Hurricane Katrina, students of UNI's Textile and Apparel Association organized a drive to collect diapers and formula for families in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Each year the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) meets in late Autumn. The organization consists of professors and other professionals in the field. Scholarly papers are presented and the meeting culminates with a design show representing the very best designs from colleges and universities across the United States and the world. Designs are scrupulously juried by a review board of ITAA members and selected based on the garment itself as well as a design statement which speaks to issues such as the student's inspiration, creativity, and design approach.
 

This year four of UNI's TAPP students had designs accepted for presentation. The students were (in alphabetical order) Maria Battani, Erin Hamburg, Erin Landt, and Lindsey Smith. Photographs of the designs are shown below. These students are all to be congratulated for this great accomplishment.
 

The designs that were accepted were a result of class work in courses taught by Dr. Lynch and Dr. Winge. Furthermore, it was the effort of Dr. Winge to organize the submissions for ITAA review that led to this great accomplishment. Both Drs. Winge and Lynch are to be congratulated too for the leadership of the design and creation process.

 

Erin Hamburg, a junior, designed this dress in the tradition of Gothic and Lolita fashion, a style of dress imported from Japan featuring Victorian-era skirts, bloomers, aprons, lace bows and ruffled petticoats. The dress is made from umbrella fabric.
GREG BROWN / Courier Staff Photographer

Shown above are the students who will be studying abroad in Lyon, France during June through July, 2005. Photographed shortly after the students purchased their flight tickets, the delight in their smiling countenances is obvious.
 

The participants will be studying in one of the historical global centers of the textile and apparel industry. They will study at the University of Lyon 2 for three weeks exploring French perspectives on fashion and product development. The last two weeks they will study history of textiles with Drs. Lynch and Strauss, while taking advantage of tremendous opportunity to explore the artifacts in Lyon's famous textile museum collection.