After 48 hours of tirelessly brainstorming, designing, sketching, sourcing and sewing Lindsey Schuyler, a design student from Florida State University, was named the winner of the 2009 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Project OR.
Schuyler designed a jacket called "Femme Fatal" with an hourglass shape, contoured shoulders, sweetheart bust and camp-style shirtsleeve using components like recycled fabric and glow-in-the-dark trim from several different suppliers exhibiting at Outdoor Retailer.
"Before I made my design, I figured out which materials I could use in the Source & Design center," Schuyler said. "No two components of my piece are from the same supplier."
Schuyler's Femme Fatal consisted of Brookwood Warrior Silk outer layer, Outlast Adaptive Comfort? phase change temperature control fabric inserts, Thinsulate? with 50 percent recycled fibers, YKK recycled polyester zippers, NWP organic cotton webbing, Duraflex clips and Lunabrite's Luna Light? trim.
As the winner of Project OR, Schuler receives an all-expenses-paid return trip to Outdoor Retailer Winter Market '10 and a profile in Textile Insight.
Schuyler was just one of five students selected to participate in the third cycle of Project OR, a concept-to-prototype design competition meant to inspire innovative summer outdoor fashion.
The contestants represented top design schools from around the country and were each commissioned to create a prototype for a layering piece to appeal to an 18-to 35-year-old woman that emphasized ventilation and moisture transport. The winning design was also to incorporate reusable/recyclable components, functionality and innovation.
In addition to Schuyler, participating students also included Jeanne Lynn Douglass of Cornell University, Johana Martinez of California State University, Los Angeles, Natalie Haddox of Art Institute of California, San Francisco and Wildrose Hamilton of Colorado State University.
The student designs were evaluated by an impressive panel of judges including designers and industry trendsetters, Pam Theodosakis, founder and design director of prAna, Alan Yiu, vice president, creative director and founder of Westcomb Outerwear, Inc., Luke Pezzimento, vice president of design and development at Ground LLC, Rita Nakouzi, director of Promostyl, Skip Yowell, co-founder of JanSport, Ted Ganio, vice president of Mountain Hardwear, Jesse Thompson of Industrial Alchemy Design House and Roberto Crivello, global lifestyle creative director of New Balance and co-founder of DDCLAB.
"Project OR has never been so competitive," said Pam Theodosakis, founder and design director of prAna and head judge of Project OR. "The students' fabrications, style and execution gets better and better each cycle. All of the participants in this cycle did a great job of incorporating the judges' design feedback into their prototype execution."
Attendees and exhibitors enthusiastically supported Project OR in its third cycle as it successfully promoted innovative outdoor fashion design and drew exhibitors' attention to some of the most talented design schools in the U.S.
"Project OR connects the outdoor industry to design programs with students that are thoroughly trained, ready and excited to drive innovation in the outdoor space," said Kenji Haroutunian, Outdoor Retailer show director. "The students' projects inspire the industry exhibitors to raise the bar of innovation."
Participating suppliers included 3M, CORDURA? Brand Fabrics, Lunabrite Inc., Nüwa Textiles, Outlast, Polartec, Schoeller Textil AG and YKK.
Show attendees followed the students' progress in designated areas throughout the show and via several online episodes on the OR website.
Still to come, the winner of the People's Choice award will be announced on Monday, July 26, in a post-show news release from Outdoor Retailer.
