Student Design Competition Announcement

17th ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION

FASHION AND TEXTILE

Imagine one project enhancing your Spring 2020 Curriculum

Enter the 17th Annual Student Design Competition (SDC) sponsored by AOA. It’s not just a contest, it’s an experience! Over 200 North American college-level art and design schools are being contacted for their students to compete for cash prizes, exciting professional development, and the networking opportunities our awards bring.

The competition was created to promote the use of alpaca fiber in fashion, textile, and interior design at the fundamental level of educational institutions. The theme for this year is Alpaca: The Earth Friendly Fiber, in continuation of the success of the theme from 2009–2019. Below is a description of what the AOA Student Design Competition can provide for your students:

Students will broaden their horizons by learning about this friendly, gentle animal, and its precious fleece that has been used for thousands of years in luxury textiles and garments — fit for royalty! Alpacas are not harmed when their fleece is harvested. Alpacas are environmentally friendly livestock.
There are two categories in the competition; fashion design and textile design. No garment construction is necessary, entries only require a presentation board, swatches, and a one-page essay. By following the guidelines for entries, students will have a portfolio-quality piece. Selected entries will be on display at the AOA Natural Fiber Extravaganza and listed on the SDC webpage.
The top four entries in each category and the winning essay will receive cash scholarships! Ribbons will be awarded to first through sixth place entries in both the textile and fashion categories, and a first-place award for the best overall essay.
The top four finalists (residing in North America) in each category and their instructors will be invited to be our guests of honor to receive their scholarships in person at the AOA Student Design Retreat taking place at the Natural Fiber Extravaganza powered by AOA in Lebanon, Tennessee, July 10–12. Winning students and their instructors will enjoy networking and educational opportunities at the conference.
The winners will be spotlighted in our award-winning nationally distributed publication Alpacas Magazine and on the SDC webpage.

The competition will be judged by industry professionals who will provide a critique for each entry. The scoring is based on an evaluation of individual entries rather than a comparative system.

We’re committed to your success!

We believe working with schools and instructors is the best way for our competition to run. By coordinating the competition through instructors and teaching programs rather than individual students, your guidance will provide a more meaningful and practical experience for the entering students. We have the support and informational materials to make this experience as rewarding and easy to enter as possible.

Classroom Presentations

A PowerPoint presentation describing the attributes of alpaca fiber has been developed for the competition and will be sent to you on request. Another option is to invite an alpaca farmer to your classroom. They can present examples of alpaca fiber and textiles or can arrange for students to visit their farm. Please contact us for more information.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship and entry fees may come from any source and is not limited to alpaca farm sponsors. However, AOA can match students to sponsoring alpaca farms in their region. Requests for sponsoring alpaca farms to provide the entry fee of $100 per entry should be sent by March 8, 2020. Sponsors will be assigned once the student entry is received.

Materials

100% alpaca yarn, roving, and fabric swatches donated by AOA members will be provided upon request. You can find the materials request form on the SDC webpage.

Materials may only be provided to individual students through instructors. The material kits will provide enough yarn, roving, and/or fabric swatches for 3 to 5 students, and include multiple natural colors. Other materials may be used in the competition as described in the rules and regulations document. Please take a moment to review the rules for use of non-alpaca materials, as the scores of the entries will be affected by the use of non-acceptable fibers in the design.

With the benefits the competition provides to both students and faculty, we encourage you to promote the competition at your school and to fellow faculty members. Several schools have found the competition to be of benefit in the class curriculum. You will find the Official Rules on the SDC webpage. Written official rules and regulations will be sent by email upon request.

We’re sure you will agree that this is an opportunity not to be missed! Put this event on your calendars now! The entry deadline is April 12, 2020.

Sincerely,

Ruth Fuqua
AOA Student Design Competition Coordinator
Hickory Bluff Farms
7236 Lebanon Road
Mount Juliet, TN 37122
Email Ruth Fuqua

The AOA Student Design Competition mission is to expose college-level art, fashion, and textile design students and professors to the wonders of designing with alpaca fiber. The competition is primarily self-funded through student entry sponsorship and donations to the program by individual alpaca farms and their affiliated organizations and businesses.