By Julie Sharp, Daily Forty-Niner May 12, 1997
Two women clad in silver stretchable vinyl minidresses armed with laser guns and a third draped with recycled CD's attached together with a thin strand of chain emerged from behind a chiffon curtain.
They were not dropped from a UFO, rather they were recruited to flaunt the avant-garde creations of Cal State Long Beach apparel design and merchandising students.
From silk and chiffon to vinyl, plastic and even paper doilies, the couture society stitched together its annual spring fashion show in the South Plaza of the Student Union Thursday afternoon to a crowd that overflowed onto the steps leading to the plaza.
According to Sue Stanley, professor and coordinator of the show, the event went off without a hitch under the relentless sunshine that pounded down on the models and judges.
Five judges from the fashion industry were present to critique the students' designs in a total of eight categories based on set criteria.
A design of simplicity by Chinami Suzuki in the color of the season topped the fundamentals of apparel production and design category.
Her orange simple mid-calf, zip back dress won the votes of the judges.
The apparel tailoring category included effective coordination and price point marketability was won by designer Patricia Pan.
Her practical designs included a navy full-legged pantsuit with a cropped sleeveless vest-type shirt.
A short button-up tan corduroy skirt with a white collared crop shirt was the winning design in the flat patterned category. The flat pattern designs were created to be mass produced.
According to the winner of this category, senior Ivonne Gomez, the project of flat pattern students was to create school uniforms.
"Flat pattern is really technical, everyone in that class worked their butts off all semester. I was very, very surprised to win," Gomez said.
In the spirit of the 1950s, Thuy Tran used an iridescent fabric for her navy floor length dress with opaque fabric in diamond shaped blocks accentuating the waist.
This design was part of the draping category, won by Tran.
The crowd-pleaser of the experimental category was designed by Geannie Nguyen.
Her '70s spirited full flared miniskirt and a flared long sleeve wrap shirt was made of confetti foil dot fabric. Nguyen was also the winner of the category.
Philip Linn's designs were top in the categories of free style and most marketable.
His "A river runs through it" line featured brown knit body accentuating dresses detailed with tan opaque fabric flowing like a stream down the dresses.
All winners received an award certificate, a professional color analysis by Gala Totaro of Color Me Beautiful and sewing supplies.