Inspired by the Bravo Network’s “Project Runway” and the “Balenciaga and His Legacy” exhibit at the Meadows Museum, first-year Kelly Pearson, Performing Visual Arts chair of Program Council, created SMU’s “Fashion Face-Off.”

“I based Fashion Face-Off off of Project Runwa,” she said. “The competition is going to have the talent and competition of Project Runway with the elegance of Balenciaga.”

She said there will be two categories, fashion illustration and fabrication design.

“The sketches and designs will all be influenced by Balenciaga’s creations here at the museum,” said Pearson.

Co-sponsored by Program Council’s Performing and Visual Arts Committee and the Meadows Museum, Fashion Face-Off is a two-month long fashion design contest where student designers from Southern Methodist University, El Centro College, University North Texas, University of Texas at Dallas, Texas Christian University, University of Dallas, and Collin County Community College will compete to win the fashion illustration or fabrication design categories.

First-year Leslie Todd is competing in the fabrication design category with a cocktail dress made of ribbon and chiffon material inspired by Balenciaga’s late-1960s cocktail dresses.

“I’m so excited for the event because it’s not very often that I get to design dresses here,” Todd said, adding that fashion doesn’t really have its own organization on campus.

“There are no fashion classes. There’s Retail Club, but even that is part of the business school,” adding that “Fashion Face-Off is wonderful because it’s a rare opportunity for people who love to make dresses to come together and show the students and the Dallas fashion industry their pieces.”

Like Project Runway, the competition required an initial sketching period. On March 8, students had two hours at the exhibit to sketch renderings of some of Balenciaga’s 70 creations along with 20 dresses and accessories from his mentors Oscar de la Renta, Emanuel Ungaro, Hubert de Givenchy and André Courrèges. Students worked over Spring Break to submit their fashion illustrations and fabrication design pieces on March 23.

“This competition is a great opportunity for all students to get their names out there and show their talent off to the fashion industry,” said Pearson. “A lot of important people and companies in the fashion industry and fashion magazines, especially in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas, will be attending the competition. I was told to expect many Dallas socialites,” she said.

The judging and award ceremony will be April 2 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Ballrooms and is open to the public. The sketches will be on display in the Hughes-Trigg Ballrooms, and models will present the fabrications down the runway.

The winning pieces in the sketching and fabrication design categories will be on display at the Orchestra of New Spain’s concert in the Meadows Museum on April 14. The winner of the fabrication competition will receive a couture dress form.

While students will also vote on the winners of each category, a panel of judges from the fashion industry will judge the fabricated pieces as they are presented on the runway. The judges will each give one compliment and one criticism to the contestants as they stand on the runway à la Project Runway.

Myra Walker, curator and director of the Texas Fashion Collection and professor in the School of Visual Arts at the University of North Texas, Heidi Dillon, president of Fashionistas, Inc., and Jackie Bolin, F!D Shops Editor for the Dallas Morning News will judge the sketching and fabrication design competition. SMU’s own Jordan Traxler, a columnist for The Daily Campus, will also sit on the panel.

“It’s going to be a wonderful event,” said Pearson. “All of the pieces are professional and gorgeous. We’ve got food, music, a runway, socialites and most importantly, students presenting their beautiful designs.”