UW-Stout is well known for its schools of design. But while the term “design” in and of itself brings to mind art divisions such as graphic design and industrial design, you’d be leaving out one very important and highly creative program.

The Apparel Design and Development program, considered highly regarded along with Stout’s other design programs, is an in-depth program that teaches students how to make clothing. They are taught everything from sketching an idea, to sewing the fabric together, and finally sending it down the runway.

According to Hannah Spies, a senior and one of the approximately 250 people in the ADD program, you hit the ground running as soon as you enter the program. “We start you in a few basic classes to get you started,” says Spies. “As you end up graduating, we want you to be able to have all the knowledge of the industry so you are able to obtain any job position you desire.” Sewing and construction course are just a couple offered to students, along with design and pattern classes, to help them along the way.

Besides making a mock up to fit a measured mannequin and creating the garment in fabric, a typical assignment consists of creating presentation boards with sketches and actual photos of the garment on it. But before any of this can be done, the outfit needs to be designed and in order to do this, “you must also aim the garment at a certain target market and do research and define that target market,” says Spies.

Megan Wendt, a junior in ADD, says her favorite part of the program is seeing a line of clothing she has been working on evolve over the semester and seeing the finished product.

“It’s great when people ask you where you got a shirt or any piece of clothing and you can say … I made that,” says Wendt.

    Wendt, who hopes to find a job at a clothing company similar to Urban Outfitters, chose the ADD program for a variety of reasons. She believes that clothing tells a different story for each person wearing it and that “gives (Wendt) a chance to demonstrate (her) creativity while producing a functional garment for all types of people.” Wendt adds, “I get to help people tell their story, in a sense.”

The ADD program has produced a couple of garments that have become patented, and even famous. The Turtleback Jacket was created a few years ago by four students in UW-Stout’s Functional class, Wendt said. The jacket was designed to serve as a portable environment during extreme recreational activities.

Gindy Neidermyer, director of the ADD program, says students have a 100 percent placement rate after graduation, and can end up working anywhere across the country. Many former students work for designer labels; a few of them have even helped design outfits for celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Renee Zellweger.

There are lots of interesting clothes coming out of UW-Stout’s Apparel Design and Development program each and every semester. If you’re interested in seeing some of the fashions created by Stout students, there are two fashion shows coming up in Great Hall of the Memorial Student Center.

    The first one, on April 18 at 8pm, is Fashion Without Fabric an art show with a name that explains itself. The second, on April 26 at 1pm and 5 pm, is the Silhouettes Fashion Show. Call 232-1122 or 232-1431 for tickets ranging from $5 to $15, or visit tickets.uwstout.edu.