The lavish, elegant Art Deco style of the 1930s will be on glorious display when MTSU’s fashionistas take to the runway.

Senior apparel design student Alana Gillihan, seated, poses with models wearing her fashions, which will be presented in the 2014 MTSU Fashion Runway Show April 11 in the James Union Building. (Photo courtesy of Chelsea Doy Photography)

The MTSU Department of Human Sciences will present its annual Fashion Runway Show at 7 p.m. Friday, April 11, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building.

Students are in charge of the entire event, including modeling, merchandising, staging, promotion and budget.

“The show will be student-run and student-led, and we expect great results,” said Caitlin Arabis, a senior fashion merchandising major from Columbia, Tenn., and co-director of the show.

“We expect the show to be the basis of every other show from now on.”

The inspiration for the couture on display comes from the metals, architecture and cars of the Great Depression, when the glamour of fashion was in stark contrast to the condition of the country.

Transportation in the “Great Gatsby” era will be a prominent theme, a timely choice coming on the heels of the film remake of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” winning the 2014 Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

“The 1930s really saw a boom in the way people were transported from point A to point B,” Arabis said.

Faculty and alumni will judge the presentations. The event is a way for students to exhibit skills they have learned, most notably in the Senior Showcase at the program’s conclusion.

“When we showcase our designs, we can show what our professors have taught us and how we’ve been able to use that,” said Alana Gillihan, a senior apparel design major from Tullahoma, Tenn., and co-director of the show.

“As leaders in the production of it, it’s something we can be proud of. I think it’s very self-rewarding, and I think it will look great on a resume,” Arabis added.

The students are working under the direction of Dr. Rick Cottle, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Sciences.

“This is experiential learning at its best,” Cottle said. “The students also have window displays in the Ellington Human Sciences Building and the Learning Resources Center.”

Regular admission tickets are $20 and VIP tickets are $50. VIP tickets include admission to a reception hosted by the Runway Show Advisory Board, a group of alumni and community supporters of the Department of Human Sciences.

For more information, contact Cottle at 615-494-8752 or rick.cottle@mtsu.edu.

A printable campus map with parking instructions is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap13-14.

— Gina K. Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)