CCA News
Fashion Design Alumna Jeannette Peters Places First in Fiber to Fashion Design Competition
Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, by Sarah Owens
Congratulations to recent California College of the Arts alumna Jeannette Peters (BFA Fashion Design 2010) who placed first in the seventh annual Fiber to Fashion Student Design Competition, presented by the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA). Sponsored by Fashion Design faculty member Lynda Grose, Peters’ winning project—a line of machine-knit alpaca-fiber menswear.
Peters had heard about alpaca wool while taking CCA’s Fashion Sustainability and Fashion Knitwear courses, but her work for the AOBA’s Student Design Competition was her first exposure to working with this particular material.
The AOBA sent Peters a package of alpaca yarns and fabric swatches as well as information about the animals themselves in order to help her start with her competition entry. From these materials she created a story board that includes mood images, illustrations, flats, and swatches. Peters submitted this board to the organization, including a one-page essay that illustrates an understanding of the alpaca fiber as it relates to her design.
Peters loved the opportunity to work with alpaca fiber, stating, “I was very impressed at the variety that is available as well as the uniqueness of the fabric. Once woven or knitted, alpaca wool is different from lamb’s wool—the hand, weight, texture, and variety of natural colors make it very distinct. I would love to continue to use alpaca in my future design work. I hope that it continues to be a fiber that is developed and made more readily available as an alternative to wool.”
The mission of the AOBA’s Fiber to Fashion Student Design Competition is “to expose college-level art, fashion and textile design students and professors to the wonders of designing with alpaca fiber. By promoting the competition, we are ensuring the next generation of designers will be entering the workforce with a positive awareness of this amazing luxury fiber that can be utilized throughout their professional lives.”
The association judged entries based of a variety of criteria: level of creativity; commercial viability; the professionalism of the presentation; and the overall appeal of the board‘s use of the alpaca fiber.
Born and raised locally in El Sobrante, California, Peters has always had a keen interest in fashion: “I feel like from an early age I was very perceptive of what people were wearing and I loved drawing clothed figures.” She reveals. “My interest in it as a career started in junior high school when I designed the costumes for a school play.”
For more information about the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association and its Fiber to Fashion Student Design Competition, visit www.alpacainfo.com.
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[By feature writer Mailika Demings]