Cape High students enter national fashion design competition

Like most teenagers, Cape High’s Ashlyn Moore and Jane Yang have a passion for fashion.

These family and consumer science pathway students not only wear the latest styles, they design them, too.

After winning top prizes for clothing design and construction in Delaware’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America state competition, the two earned a spot in FCCLA’s national competition in Atlanta.

Family and consumer science teacher Alayna Aiken said the competition gives students a chance to apply their knowledge outside the classroom.

“There’s a lot of engineering involved in clothing design,” she said. “They learn how their skills line up nationally, get to see other areas of the country and learn about different cultures. It gives them a reason for doing something even bigger and better than they did in school.”

Before taking the class, Moore had only sewn pillows. In her first year, she sewed seven dresses, including costumes for Cape High’s school plays, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “The Sound of Music.”

“She was driven and talented from the get-go,” Aiken said. “She jumped right into higher-level projects almost immediately.”

As a freshman, she entered the fashion construction competitive event. While the national competition typically accepts students in 10th through 12th grades, Moore’s gold award in Delaware’s competition earned her a spot in the national competition, where she received the silver award.

“For a first-time student, going in and doing that well was mind-blowing,” Aiken said. “I’m excited for what Ashlyn will do in the next couple years. I think she’ll clean-sweep the scholarships.”

Moore wore one of her own dresses, a black-and-white T-shirt dress, during her part of the competition. For her entry, she had to display a garment or ensemble she created using at least eight fashion construction techniques, such as shaped seams or lace overlay, and explain her construction process. Moore created a formal white dress with a blue lace overlay.

“I was shopping on Black Friday and was inspired by a purple lace dress I saw,” she said. “I bought the pattern for $1 and got materials really cheap too, because it was Black Friday.”

Moore experimented with fabrics and designs to find the right materials to suit the dress. She admitted cutting fabric for the bodice was stressful.

“It was scary to cut out because it made no sense,” she said. “You had to cut out half-circles and put them together, and I was really scared. But putting them together was cool because I realized how it was going to come together. It was fun.”

“She’ll dive into the great unknown,” Aiken said. “It makes her nervous, but she’ll take the time to process how to put it all together.”

To compete in the fashion design category, Yang created her own fashion label, Simply Jane, and designed a collection of feminine chic styles embellished with lace and ruffles. 

She had to construct an original outfit, a company logo and marketing materials to support and sell the brand. Yang also had to determine audience preference, fix pricing ranges for the targeted audience while considering manufacturing costs, and identify potential retailers for her brand. 

Yang won gold at the state competition the past two years, and Aiken said she performed well at nationals.

“She was shy when she was a freshman,” Aiken said. “It’s been exciting to see her transform and grow.”

Yang has applied at several art colleges, and is evaluating which one to attend. She plans to study merchandising and marketing and selling fashion designs. 

“It’s not necessary to make it big with your own label in this field,” Aiken said. “For instance, Under Armour is in Baltimore, and a lot of University of Delaware graduates go there to design for them.”

While in Atlanta, students toured CNN, Coca-Cola, Zoo Atlanta and Olympic Park. They also toured the Savannah College of Art and Design, where they viewed a clothing exhibition by fashion designer Pierre Cardin.