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Fashion Students Have A Heart

Photo courtesy of the International Academy of Design & Technology

The International Academy of Design & Technology has teamed up with the American Heart Association for the 'Red Dress Project.'

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By CLOE CABRERA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

It's the No. 1 health threat to women in America: heart disease. And it's making students at the International Academy of Design & Technology in Tampa see red - in a good way.

The academy has teamed up with the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women awareness campaign for the Red Dress Project, a line of dresses created to tell the stories of 14 survivors of heart disease and stroke.

The dresses will be showcased June 14 at Imagine 2008, the academy's 23rd annual fashion show.

More than 40 students submitted sketches to participate in the Red Dress Project, says Ashley Scollo, fashion department manager. Fourteen students were selected based on their designs.

Each of the students was paired with a survivor and met her and heard her story before making a dress.

The survivors won't shimmy down the catwalk in their red dresses. They served as inspiration for the designs, but models will wear the dresses in the show.

Designer Sandra Hagen says she knew little about heart disease until she met survivor Sandra Hopkins last year.

Hopkins visited the academy to help kick off the Red Dress Project. Hopkins, 52, was healthy her entire life. Then, during one of her usual 20-mile bike rides in 2006, she began experiencing pain below her sternum. At the hospital, she suffered a heart attack. Doctors discovered she had one artery with a 95 percent blockage that required three stents to correct.

"When I first started this, I thought of it as a community service," says Hagen, 31, a senior designer at the academy. "But when I heard her Hopkins, she really made me think of heart disease very strongly. I knew I wanted to be a part of the project. I can't imagine as a woman and mother going through something like that and putting my story out there for everyone. This project has become very personal for me."

Hagen patterned a crimson dress after survivor Susan Farias. Farias, 54, an athlete and fitness instructor, began experiencing shortness of breath in November 2001. The following year, doctors rebuilt Farias' heart valve.

Hagen created an elegant wrap-around, one-shoulder evening gown of silk dupioni with rushing and a flared bottom.

Farias is "very fit and very elegant," says Hagen, a native of Colombia, who also will show three original pieces in the show. "She has such a big heart. I wanted to create a dress that was as amazing as she is."

Student Whitney Cramer made a striking scarlet design for survivor Katrina Donaker, 24, who underwent open-heart surgery when she was 2. Cramer's short, 1950s-inspired halter-top dress is made of linen with a cinched waist and quilted satin pockets shaped liked hearts. It can go from day to evening.

"It took me five months to create," says Cramer, 20, a senior who is moving to New York at the end of June to intern with designer Brian Reyes. Donaker is "a woman that doesn't let anything stop her, no matter what. She's a real go-getter, and I wanted the dress to reflect that."

Donaker says the dress is a perfect reflection of her.

"To see that someone made something so beautiful that was inspired by me was overwhelming," Donaker says. "It was stylish, full of color and had hearts which double as pockets - a bonus. The hearts represent my story and that heart disease can happen to anyone, young or old, and the style reflects my age and personality. I am very upbeat and excited to live every day to the fullest."

Imagine 2008 is the academy's annual fashion show. It is produced by the academy. All the fashions are created by its fashion design students.

This year's event will open with candy costumes inspired by candy and made from candy - including a candy-wrapper dress - and will feature more than 170 garments ranging from casual and swimwear to bridal and evening wear.

The Red Dress Project designs will be featured in the show's finale.

IF YOU GO

Imagine 2008

WHAT: The International Academy of Design & Technology's 23rd annual fashion show

WHEN: 7 p.m. June 14

WHERE: A La Carte Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive, Tampa

COST: Tickets, $20, can be purchased at the academy bookstore.

INFORMATION: www.academy.edu. To see photos of the designers, survivors and their dresses, go to www.reddressproject.com.

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