The SIU Fashion Design and Merchandising Program will be hosting its annual Student Showcase and Runway Fashion Show on April 25 in the Student Center ballrooms.

There will be an opening exhibit of student coursework and projects in the J.W. Corker Lounge at 6 p.m. before the fashion show begins, according to a university press release. The show is free to the public and starts at 7 p.m.

The press release said over 150 people are involved with the show, including cosmetology students from John A. Logan community college. The main feature of the show are the four senior designers’ final garment collections.

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The senior students have been working on their projects since the beginning of the year or before.

“[I’ve worked] since the beginning of the semester, I want to say previous semester as well,” Terrian Brownlow, a senior studying fashion design and merchandising, said. “I have a wedding gown that will be in the show, so I would say I’ve been preparing for this for a while now.”

(See more: Fashion design students to showcase final works in runway fashion show)

Four categories are represented in the show. Six first-year students will be participating in the first category, “Dressed For Effect,” which is a spring-themed dress line.

Four senior designers will be participating in the second and third categories. “Mardi Gras,” featuring a group of experimental pieces centering around a color theme, will be first and “Bridal Reimagined” will follow.

Five students will be participating in the fourth category, “Time After Time,” where their garments are inspired by decades from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Students are pulling inspiration for their lines from many different places.

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“I pretty much do all my designs about my family — my mom, family members or even myself,” Jingyu Niu, a senior studying fashion design, said.

Brooklyn Lehn, a senior studying fashion design from Princeton, said she already has plans for what she’ll be doing after she graduates.

“I’m going to be getting married to a Marine so I’m going to be stationed,” Lehn said. “My plan is to make military wives’ ball gowns for the military ball.”

Lehn said she wants to get into custom-made pieces since it feels special to say you didn’t buy the dress, but got it custom made.

Each of the seniors have created a collection of four to six garments which can be seen during the show on Thursday.

Staff reporter Elizabeth Biernacki can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @EBiernacki_619.

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