By Lauren Pinkston

March 19, 2014

The apparel design and merchandising students at Dominican University are only week away from the grand opening of their annual fashion show. This year’s theme, appropriately titled “Reveal,” leaves much about the show to the imagination of the audience before the show hits the runway.

Senior apparel design major Lydia Granger is excited to finally give the community the chance to see her senior collection as well as the work of her fellow seniors.

“It’s going to be a really good one this year,” Granger said. “We’re adding a lot of new aspects that have never been seen at the shows in past years.”

Granger, whose position in the show is to recruit models and plan hair and makeup, didn’t give away what the new aspects are, but promised the reveal would be worth the wait.

The director of the show, senior apparel merchandising major Edyta Drewniak, also alluded to innovative features in the show.

“One thing I really want to implement this year is audience involvement,” Drewniak said.

Drewniak shared that the audience involvement will play a part in this year’s show and also be in the preparations.

“Every process and step we go through, we want our audience to go through with us, so we’ve been using social media to share what we’ve been doing with the show and what we’ve been studying and learning over the past four years,” she added.

Granger and Drewniak have been working with 15 other seniors in creating the production.

Granger explained that the show would not be possible without what she considers a large group effort from a dedicated group of students.

“One of Dominican’s four pillars is community and I think that’s what the apparel department is trying to create.”

The apparel design and merchandising seniors are not just creating a community at Dominican but have even reached out to students at other schools in the area.

“Our photographers, videographers, hair and makeup artists and models are all students, not just at Dominican, but at DePaul, Columbia and recent grads,” Drewniak said. “They’re all working together to build their portfolios and make a great show.”

Tracy Jennings, chair of the apparel design and merchandising department, believes the fashion show is not only a great opportunity to build community, but means much more to the students.

Students learn teamwork, following through on commitments, leadership, professionalism and responsibility with their involvement in the show,” she said. “These are many of the same qualities that companies look for in an employee.”

Both Drewniak and Granger have applied their experiences in the fashion show towards their future careers in fashion.

Specifically, Drewniak accepted a management position at a Nordstrom in Colorado and she sees being the director of the fashion show as a preview for her position.

“As director, I’ve had the opportunity to work with other people. Being a leader on the team gives me more skills in preparing for a management position after graduation,” Drewniak said.

“Reveal” will be unveiled in the Lund Auditorium on Saturday, March 29 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. with an additional show on Sunday, March 30 at 3p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Dominican University box office with prices set at  $10 for students and $15 for general admission.