Make sure to check out the slideshow! âÄúCrunch. Crunch time,âÄù said Tessa Druley , clothing design senior, with her beige straw fedora pushed up over her eyes. Her gaze was fixed hard on the clipboard in her hands. As the backstage chair of this yearâÄôs 41st annual senior fashion show âÄúExposed,âÄù Druley watched anxiously from the balcony as the scurrying designers readied the performance space and styles. Models were perched ceremoniously on slate-colored foldout chairs enduring a constant stream of hairspray and allowing hunched artists to finish the last pops of lime green eyeshadow. With only four hours until the opening of the doors in Rapson Hall , models were halted, stylists were late and makeup artists were taking their sweet time. âÄúSince this is the first time that friends and family will see [the last four years of work],âÄù said Druley, âÄúeveryone wants everything to be perfect.âÄù Faultlessness is where they had been aiming for the past few months. In fact, a few of the seniors were still putting the finishing stitches on garments to be worn Saturday evening. This yearâÄôs students wanted to maintain a professional air about their show, so fundraising began months in advance. Professionals were hired out for photography, lights, sound, hair and makeup. Even the showâÄôs program was laboriously constructed. Each student featured four garments in the show and many hired out professional models to do the walking. The design and angle of each student is varied and unique, so they decided as a group to opt out of a specific theme that would tie the entire show together. This was a departure from last yearâÄôs show, which had the avant-garde theme âÄúAbandon Your Threads. âÄú The lines range from costume to experimental. Stacey Wenzel worked with flowing lines and abstract hems, while Luci Kandler , a co-designer of the new fashion line Calpurnia Peach , featured golden-yellow tights, dresses with thimble prints and high-waisted shorts with thick brass detailing. Druley aimed her designerâÄôs eye on high-fashion drama for this show. She said, âÄúI wanted something regal, but wearable at the same time.âÄù Her models were gearing to sport high-contrast fabric, since Druley chose to pair diverse pieces. Her featured outfit was a mash-up of high-waisted leather paints with black leather detailing, a shimmery blue halter and a stiff knit jacket and hand pieces. Altogether, she aimed for âÄúa balance of structure and show âĦ [revolving] around the fabric and the way it lays.âÄù She drew much of this yearâÄôs work from high-fashion designers Balenciaga and Jil Sander. âÄú[Balenciaga] can form something wearable,âÄù she said. âÄúBut still have a statement and a bit of innovation.âÄù Dr. Missy Bye , the director of the clothing design department, has accompanied these students on their journey through the clothing design. Throughout the day, she drifted around the stage and dressing room assuring that everything was continuing smoothly, offering a word of advice or reassurance here and there. Of the students, she said, âÄúIâÄôm delighted. This show will be the best so far. The bar keeps raising [each year], and the students rise to meet it again and again.âÄù