On Saturday January 23, Faith Anderson, a design student from Philadelphia University, was named the winner of the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market Project OR.
Anderson's insulated outerwear jacket, “Pretty Straight,” reflected the design brief's charge to build a fashionable piece that could take an on-the-go female outdoor enthusiast on any adventure from the mountain to a dinner appointment. Inspired by the straight lines of architecture, the garment sported a fitted waist, high-lined collar and removable hood.
“Being able to participate in this type of competition and work with this caliber of fabrics is a dream,” Anderson said. “I never expected to win-but did come ready to work hard and represent my school well.”
Schuyler's “Pretty Straight” included a Cordura nylon outer layer, glow-in-the-dark accent fabric from Schoeller's spirit collection, a Polartec� Polar Shield-lined collar, 3M Thinsulate� anti microbial filler, Duraflex pull tabs and double zipper, and JRC Reflex pull tabs.
As the winner of Project OR, Anderson receives an all-expenses-paid return trip to Outdoor Retailer Summer Market '10 and a profile in Textile Insight Magazine.
Anderson was just one of five students selected to participate in the fourth cycle of Project OR, a concept-to-prototype design competition meant to inspire innovative summer outdoor fashion.
Participants of the 2010 Winter Market Project OR competition also included John Hamilton, Purdue University; Christina Johnson, University of California, Davis; Mark Pimentel, Oregon State University and Lauren Price, Florida State University.
This cycle's panel of judges included both designers and industry trendsetters for the industry including Pam Theodosakis, founder and design director of prAna; Alan Yiu, vice president, creative director and founder of Westcomb Outerwear, Inc.; Rita Nakouzi, director of Promostyl; Skip Yowell, co-founder of JanSport; Jesse Thompson of Industrial Alchemy Design House; and AnneMarie Furey, freelance designer.
“The passion, creativity and execution of the student designers never cease to impress our panel of judges,” said Pam Theodosakis, co-founder and design director of prAna and head judge of Project OR. “This cycle was especially challenging because each of the student's designs directly answered the design brief challenge-the judges were impressed by each student's creative approach.”
Project OR and its competitors grew a following of fans and the attention of attendees and exhibitors, alike, in its new location in the northwest corner of the show floor.
“For this show, we were able to locate Project OR right on the show floor amid the bustle and traffic of the aisles.” said Kenji Haroutunian, Outdoor Retailer show director. “Close proximity to participating suppliers and relevant manufacturers really exposed the competition to a broader audience.”
The presenting sponsor for Project OR Cycle 4 was 3M, with Hyperbola as the supporting sponsor.
Participating material suppliers included Brookwood, CORDURA, Cotton, King Tech, Nuwa, Polartec, Primaloft, Schoeller, Thermore, YKK and Woolrich.
Show attendees followed the students' progress on the show floor and via several live online episodes on the OR Web site. These videos will remain on the Web site until the next cycle of Project OR at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, August 2-6, 2010.
Still to come, the winner of the People's Choice award will be announced next week in a post-show news release from Outdoor Retailer.
