Note to media: Several UA apparel and design students will meet with students at Arts n’ Autism at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11. If reporters are interested in interviewing students, taking photos or obtaining video, contact Kim Eaton, UA media relations, at 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu, or, for broadcast media, Shane Dorrill, 205/348-8319 or sdorrill@ur.ua.edu.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama apparel and design students have teamed with Arts n’ Autism to create a fashion show that is truly one-of-a-kind.
The annual T-Time Fashion Show, slated for April 14, has been a regular event of the College of Human Environmental Sciences for well over a decade. What began as a t-shirt deconstruction project for students in the Apparel and Design program evolved into a show where students can use elements to make a garment that is “outside the box,” said Paula Robinson, instructor in apparel and design and T-Time Fashion Show coordinator.
“This includes materials you might find in a home improvement center,” she said. “We have had garments made from coffee filters, plastic shopping bags, caution tape, CDs, recycled materials, screen wire, newspaper and duck tape.”
The only requirements are that the garment is wearable and it covers the body. Some of the students, which include a combination of sophomores, juniors and seniors, will stick with the show’s original concept – designing a garment from a deconstructed T-shirt – while others will use different types of fabrics or add paint, beading or other embellishments.
There is an added twist to this year’s show. UA students have partnered with Arts n’ Autism, a nonprofit organization that provides services to children from preschool to young adults with autism in Tuscaloosa and surrounding counties. The students with Arts n’ Autism are painting fabric inspired by a book they are reading. The apparel and design students will then cut and sew that fabric into garments for the show.
This collaboration came about after the senior students donated $1,000 from their Fall 2014 senior fashion show to Arts n’ Autism. Show coordinators decided to involve the nonprofit again with the T-Time Fashion Show, said Brian Taylor, instructor in apparel and design.
The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. April 14 on the front lawn of Doster Hall. Entrance to the event is $5, and the public is invited to attend. Part of the proceeds will go to Arts n’ Autism.
Contact
Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325, kkeaton@ur.ua.edu