Nicole Powell of Howell, who is a junior at LIM College, New York City, is the winner of the “Plaid” category in the Cotton Incorporated — LIM College student textile pattern design contest. The three winners were announced recently at Cotton Incorporated world headquarters in Cary, N.C.
Using a grant from the Importer Support Program of the Cotton Board and with supervision from Cotton Incorporated, LIM College’s Fashion Merchandising Department challenged its students to create original plaid, stripe and print fabric patterns using the college’s official colors.
According to a press release, LIM College is the nation’s only college exclusively focused on the study of business and fashion.
Nicole, who is the daughter of Diana Powell and Mark Powell and a graduate of Freehold Township High School, will receive a $1,500 scholarship to LIM College provided by the Importer Support Program.
She said of her winning pattern, “I wanted to incorporate accent colors that coordinated well with my theme of Romanticism, as well as LIM College’s colors. I used the LIM College colors of purple, lavender and red, and also added accents such as beige, pink and brown to create a bold plaid. The contrast creates a great look for representation in school products as well as a great pattern for an everyday look for any fashionista.”
During her visit to Cotton Incorporated’s headquarters, Nicole was hosted by Mark Massura, senior vice president of Global Supply Chain Marketing, and she had the opportunity to tour Cotton Incorporated’s fiber processing, dyeing and finishing, product evaluation and product development areas, as well as the analytical lab, according to the press release.
For this scholarship competition, more than 150 students in LIM College’s ComputerAided Design (CAD) classes each created a signature plaid, stripe and print pattern. After judging by a panel of faculty and administrators, five finalists in each category were selected and images of their patterns were posted on the LIM College website. All students, faculty and staff had the opportunity to vote on their favorite in each category and determine the winners.
The project is not over. During the current semester, students in LIM College’s Product Development classes will determine the best uses for the winning designs. Samples of the selected products will then be produced, with the ultimate goal of having the students’ work manufactured and sold in the LIM College bookstore. Final products might include T-shirts, pajama pants, scarves and sweatshirts — all made of 100 percent cotton.
Michael Londrigan, chair of LIM College’s Fashion Merchandising Department, said, “LIM College is proud of Nicole’s work and enormously happy to have partnered with Cotton Incorporated on this project. The textile pattern design contest provided a creative, practical and competitive learning experience that is consistent with our hands-on approach in preparing students for careers in the business of fashion.”
Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton. The program is designed and operated to improve the demand and profitability of cotton, according to the press release.
LIM College is the nation’s only college focused exclusively on the study of business and fashion, offering a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree program with concentrations in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degrees in Fashion Merchandising, Visual Merchandising, Marketing and Management, as well as Bachelor of Professional Studies (BPS), Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees in Fashion Merchandising, and Professional Certificates.