Posted June 9, 2014

 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C – The American Association of Textile Chemists & Colorists (AATCC) announced the winners of the 2014 AATCC Concept 2 Consumer® Student Design Competition.

 

AATCC received 88 entries from various colleges and universities for its 10th annual design competition. This year’s theme, Boardwalk, asked students to showcase their talent in textile design by creating a swimwear collection for 18-30 year old women.

 

Color palettes could be chosen from the PantoneView Color Planner Summer 2014. Awards included a first place cash award of $1,000, along with a copy of Pantone’s Cotton Passport and a $100 Spoonflower gift certificate; a $750 award and a $100 Spoonflower gift certificate for second place; and two $100 awards for honorable mentions and $50 Spoonflower gift certificates.

 

• 1st Place: Whittled Sands by Emma Sidoriak, University of Delaware

• 2nd Place: Architectonic Armory by Mercedes Garcia-Reyes, Kansas State University

• Honorable Mentions:

o Bali Tides by Jordynn Beckman, University of Wisconsin-Stout

o Native Pride by Elizabeth Gilligan, Drexel University

 

"The best and worst part about doing the competition was that I was working on it in the midst of finishing up my senior year," said Sidoriak. "I used the competition as an outlet for my creative juices that were otherwise pent up because of the stress and anxiety of a hectic semester. I really enjoyed myself working on this project."

 

The Concept 2 Consumer® Design Competition was not Sidoriak’s first experience with AATCC.

 

"I helped to found a new club on campus, a UD student chapter of AATCC, of which I was president. This was a great leadership experience," she said.

 

Sidoriak said that AATCC membership is important to her future career. "I think being an AATCC member will be beneficial in the future because the AATCC network sheds light on others in the industry with various backgrounds, yet similar values to my own when it comes to the importance of textiles and responsibility."

 

"I enjoyed researching the current swimwear trends as well as the color trends for the season," said Garcia-Reyes, the second-place winner. She said she also learned to have more confidence in her CAD and design skills. "I never expected to place in the competition, and just did it for my class and for fun, so it really did take me by surprise when I found out that I had won second place out of so many entries."

 

Beckman, an honorable mention winner, said, “I enjoyed the competition because I got to design swimwear for a fun fashionable target market and it was a chance to be creative. I learned that working hard, [and] taking the time to research trends and the target market was very important."

 

The other honorable mention winner, Gilligan, noted that AATCC membership "is essential to any student or young designer. Not only does it provide news about upcoming events, but it serves as a reliable platform for jobs, networking and scholarship opportunities."

 

Competition judges were:

• Carrie Yates, Manager, product development at Cotton Incorporated

• Erica Christianson, Nike swim designer at Perry Ellis International

• Jessica Wright, print & pattern developer at Nike

• Julie Lotz, senior design manager at Spanx

• Stephanie McCarrey, designer at Spanx

• Tracy Marciano, senior swim designer for Nike at Perry Ellis International

 

Source: AATCC