“The lights turn off; the first model walks out; it’s there,” apparel and textile design senior Niki Sullivan said.

The 2015 Apparel and Textile Design Fashion Show featured 65 designs of apparel and textile design students. A juried panel of faculty and students selected the designs from about 165 entries.

Sullivan said once her designs come to life on stage, the weight drips off her shoulders and she feels a sense of relief knowing the audience is watching her designs.

“You can express all of these concepts and creations in your head to an audience and lure them into what you’re thinking and what your imagination is telling you to create,” Sullivan said.

Marketing junior Sarah MacKenzie has been modeling in the show since her freshman year.

“I was a freshman looking for things to do,” she said. “It’s a really unique experience that is always full of surprises.”

This year, MacKenzie was dressed as a shark, wearing Sullivan’s design called “Ampoule de Lorenzini.”

Faculty director of the 2015 Apparel and Textile Design Fashion Show Rebecca Schuiling said what makes the show so special is the avant-garde designs and original pieces that she said will not be seen anywhere else.

“I’m extremely proud of the students,” she said. “They worked really hard on the pieces and also have to keep producing for classes at the same time, so we ask a lot of them.”