Vol. 19, No. 15

Dec. 16, 1999

Professor takes top honor
in wearable art competition

Belinda T. Orzada, consumer studies, won the Best of Fiber/Wearable Art category for her entry in the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) 1999 Design Competition. Her winning entry was entitled "Southern Living: Country Roads Cape." The competition was held in November at ITAA's annual conference in Santa Fe, N.M. Innovative fashions and wearable art created by ITAA members and their students were featured in both mounted and live model exhibitions, and more than 100 designs by faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students were on display. According to Orzada, "Southern Living" reflects memories of the rural south Georgia landscape where she grew up. "In designing this cape," she said, "my goal was to interpret the agricultural landscape of south Georgia using fiber as the artistic medium. I seek to express the feeling of driving down a country road surrounded by the elements of Southern culture I remember so fondly, but am distanced from in my suburban life." Some of the items depicted on the cape are a dirt road, corn, watermelon, pumpkin, cemetery, pond with cypress tree, a barn and tractor. The hip-length cape and asymmetrical neckline is embellished with hand and machine embroidery, applique and picture smocking. Some of the challenges of the project, Orzada said, were determining the proportion and scale of the fields, plans and other items, selecting agricultural products best representative of the region and using the appropriate embellishment techniques to portray each.? ITAA sponsors an annual juried, two-stage design competition. Entries are submitted with slides and design descriptions. Finalists are selected and must submit their garments for review by a second panel of judges. Designs undergo a second round of judging prior to the exhibition, and winners are announced at the conclusion of the show. Each winner receives a computer software package by Pattern Works International, and each faculty member receives an illustration of the design by Stephen Stipleman, an internationally known fashion illustrator. Additionally, all winners receive a year's subscription to Sew News Magazine. Orzada's specialty is apparel design, and her research is related to two- and three-dimensional special visualization for design students in the field. She received her bachelor's degree in clothing and textiles from the University of Georgia, her master's in apparel design from Louisiana State University and her doctorate in apparel design from Florida State University. She won the best fashion design award at the 1997 ITAA Design Competition. Her articles have been published in the International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology and Textile, Chemists and Colorists.