Senior Fashion Design student Leanne Wierzba was recently awarded a three-month internship with Anne Valérie Hash in Paris. The internship was one of six grand prizes from the 2006 Arts of Fashion Symposium, where internationally renowned fashion experts from cities such as Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and London judged aspiring fashion designers.

The event was hosted by the University of North Texas, School of Visual Arts, and over 100 students from 43 U.S. colleges and universities participated.

The symposium began with a four-day series of master class workshops, which included seminars, debates, and lectures on various topics in the fashion industry, including copyright law, blogging, international scholarship, and business.

The event concluded with a runway-style fashion show featuring the designs of 40 candidates competing for the six grand prizes.

Students were asked to create fashion illustrations depicting the way to express the mind and the body. Of all the submitted illustrations, about 50 finalists were chosen to present their designs at the event. Wierzba presented a complete outfit, with a cutout bustier, skirt, and ankle boots, which was intended to express the feminine archetype in art and fashion and the Freudian slip. The outfit was made from ivory satin, with pleated portions in charcoal grey chiffon.

Wierzba describes her style as very personal: "It is about my experiences, concrete and otherwise. It comes out of history, memory, and the realm of dreams. I am driven by concepts that relate mostly to psychology and social behavior."

The three-month internship in Paris will most likely begin in May, at the end of the spring semester.

For more information on the Arts of Fashion Foundation, visit Arts of Fashion. For more information about CCA's Fashion Design Program, see Fashion Design.