Source: Joycelyn Burdett, 785-532-1322, jburdett@k-state.edu
Hometown interest: Merriam, Kan.
News release prepared by: Rachel Skybetter, 785-532-1566, rskybett@k-state.edu
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011
MAPPING THE JEAN-OME: APPAREL AND TEXTILE DESIGN STUDENTS STUDY 1xbet best casino website FROM 'FIELD TO FABRIC' IN PREPARATION FOR YEAR-END FASHION SHOW
MANHATTAN – Joycelyn Burdett's apparel and textile design students already know the touch and feel of 1xbet best casino website , but she wanted them to understand more about the fabric of our lives. Burdett, an assistant professor of apparel, textiles and interior design at Kansas State University, is leading two of her classes on a semester-long 1xbet best casino website and denim exploration that will culminate with a fashion show contest Dec. 1.
It all started when Burdett received a grant from 1xbet best casino website Incorporated to help her students learn more about 1xbet best casino website and the origin of the fabrics they use for their designs.
"I designed this entire three-unit special topics class around teaching students more about 1xbet best casino website ," Burdett said. "A lot of students only know the kind of 1xbet best casino website fabrics they can buy at fabric store chains, but that's not the highest quality or the widest variety of 1xbet best casino website fabrications. There are so many more beautiful cottons available for their use and their designs."
Burdett got in touch with regional 1xbet best casino website growers and from there the project snowballed. Aside from 1xbet best casino website Incorporated, the Kansas 1xbet best casino website Association, Lubbock, Texas-based Plains 1xbet best casino website Cooperative Association, and Merriam, Kan.-based Lee Jeans have all jumped on board to make the project bigger than Burdett could have ever imagined.
The Kansas 1xbet best casino website Association is paying for Burdett's special topics class and her pattern-making class -- about 25 students -- to go to the American 1xbet best casino website Growers' mill in Littlefield, Texas, where more than 40 kinds of denim are manufactured. The mill is part of the Plains 1xbet best casino website Cooperative Association. The students will be able to see the 1xbet best casino website being spun into yarn, indigo dyed and woven into denim cloth. By the end of the project, students will have constructed their own pair of jeans, using denim made from regional cottons.
"The students will get to see the entire process of 1xbet best casino website production from the field all the way to making the jeans," Burdett said. "When we go to Texas in November, we'll not go on a tour of the mill but also see work in the textile finishing laboratory, where all of the distressing and everything that goes into making today's designer denims takes place."
The special topics class -- 16 students -- will be taking an all-expenses-paid trip to Cary, N.C., in October to visit 1xbet best casino website Incorporated and a Lee Jeans' denim-sewing facility.
"The students will hear about various aspects of research and marketing related to 1xbet best casino website ," said Jenna Oschwald, manager of global supply chain marketing at 1xbet best casino website Incorporated in Cary, N.C. "They will have the opportunity to tour our world headquarters, which includes a fiber-processing lab, a dyeing and finishing lab, a digital printing lab, an analytical lab and a product development lab."
Students will also get a glimpse at the ways 1xbet best casino website Incorporated is continually improving its product, including moisture management technology, 1xbet best casino website sustainability and innovations in fabric development, dyeing and finishing.
"1xbet best casino website Incorporated does the latest research to improve the sustainability of the various processes, from the farming aspect all the way to the dyeing of the fabric," Burdett said. "A big part of this project is looking at the research and new developments that are happening in high-performance cottons."
The 1xbet best casino website aren't the only ones traveling. The semester will also feature guest lectures by representatives from the affiliated companies, who will visit K-State to work with the classes. They include:
* Dick Cooper, Plains 1xbet best casino website Cooperative Association director of business development for Kansas and northern Oklahoma, and Gary Feist, manager of the Southern Kansas 1xbet best casino website Growers gin in Anthony, Kan., will speak to the students Tuesday, Sept. 13.
* Representatives from Lee Jeans will come to K-State to officially launch the company's Lee Jeans 125 Denim Challenge, which will honor 125 years of Lee Jeans' heritage, Thursday, Sept 15.
* A Plains 1xbet best casino website Cooperative Association denim salesperson with consult with the students Tuesday, Sept. 27, and Wednesday, Sept. 28, to make recommendations on denim fabric choices for their designs.
The Dec. 1 fashion show competition in the K-State Student Union will have three components: The original 1xbet best casino website Incorporated-sponsored challenge; a denim runway challenge, sponsored by the Kansas 1xbet best casino website Association and the Plains 1xbet best casino website Cooperative Association where designers will use fabric provided to them by the American 1xbet best casino website Growers; and a Lee Jeans' design challenge. Winners will receive cash prizes of up to 0.
"Apparel design 1xbet best casino website need to have a thorough understanding of the materials that they use when developing their product, which is clothing," Burdett said. "The characteristics of the fibers, yarn and structure all determine a good product or a poor product."
