Design student is finalist in fashion competition
April 25, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- Aspiring designer and Western Michigan University student Katie Heitchler recently was named a finalist in the Taubman Design Competition, sponsored by the Detroit chapter of Fashion Group International.
Heitchler, a sophomore who is in her first semester as a fashion design major in WMU's textile and apparel studies program, wants to own her own business one day and promote her own line of clothing.
But the Fenton, Mich., native isn't waiting to put her talent to good use.
"I'm a work-study student in the theater department costume shop," she says, "and I'm a theatre minor. I've always had a love for theatre and film costumes."
The 19-year-old sophomore says her interest in design is driven by "a desire to create artistic clothing from two dimensional drawings to a three dimensional garment."
FGI, a nonprofit global organization of men and women from all facets of the fashion industry, supports young and promising talent in the field.
Media contact: Gail Towns, 269 387-8400, gail.towns@wmich.edu