WVU Fashion Design students, faculty earn international recognition
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West Virginia University Fashion Design and Merchandising students and faculty will be represented at the 2026 International Textile and Apparel Association Conference, with five undergraduate student designs and three faculty/professional designs accepted for exhibition.
In 2025, WVU set an ITAA record by having five student designs accepted for exhibition, and this year, WVU matched that record.
"This continued recognition highlights WVU Fashion Design students' exceptional creativity, technical skill, research and design innovation," said Associate Professor Colleen Moretz.
The five undergraduate student designs are:
Gabryel Phillips, "Lilly of the Holler"
James Turner, "Play in Da Mud"
James Turner, "The Perfectly Imperfect Dress"
Ella Renshaw, "Beyond the Jersey: Athletic Identity Through Hybrid Menswear"
Aaron Monroe, "Blind"
The conference will also feature work by WVU FDM faculty. Moretz and Assistant Professor Angela Uriyo will have their creative scholarship represented in the professional category.
Their collaborative design, "Spiraling Memory: Grief, Reclaimed Textiles and Fashion as Wearable Art," explores the relationship between memory, loss, reclaimed materials and fashion as a form of wearable artistic expression.
Moretz will also present "Reframing Botanical and Indigo Dye Aesthetics Through Spiral Zero-Waste Fashion Design," extending her ongoing research in sustainable fashion, zero-waste pattern development, botanical dyeing and textile design. The design was a collaboration with Sandra Keiser, a textile designer with SK Fiber Studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and associate professor emerita at Mount Mary University.
The ITAA conference provides an international platform for textile and apparel scholars, designers, educators and students to share innovative research and creative work. Acceptance into the exhibition represents a significant achievement, particularly for undergraduate designers entering an international professional and academic design community.
The repeated success of WVU FDM students at ITAA demonstrates the program's emphasis on creative design, technical development, sustainability, research and experiential learning. The recognition also reflects the collaborative environment created by WVU FDM faculty and students, where creative scholarship and student design practice intersect.
"We are incredibly proud of the students whose work has been selected for this year's ITAA exhibition," said Moretz. "Having five undergraduate designs accepted for the second time is an extraordinary accomplishment. It speaks to the talent of our students and the strength of the design work being produced in WVU Fashion Design."
The 2026 ITAA exhibition will bring together selected student and professional work from across the field of textiles and apparel, giving WVU students and faculty an opportunity to have their work recognized alongside designers and scholars from institutions across the country and the world.
Learn more about the WVU School of Art and Design at artanddesign.wvu.edu and follow @wvu_fashion on social media.