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Iowa State fashion program shines with national awards in St. Louis

Student News Faculty News Research News Alumni News
12/16/2025

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Students and faculty from Iowa State University’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program earned multiple honors at the International Textile and Apparel Association’s (ITAA) annual conference in November.

Creative and technical design student Samantha Huynh received the inaugural Schofield Emerging Designer Award in the undergraduate student category for her work, SCAURA, along with her mentor, associate professor Rachel Eike.

“I was extremely ecstatic to be selected, especially knowing how competitive it is just to be accepted into the exhibition,” Huynh said. “It is truly such an honor, and I felt immense pride in myself and the incredible fashion program here at Iowa State.”

Huynh said her award-winning bag was developed when she was a junior as part of a soft goods and product development course taught by Eike, where students created leather alternatives using recycled fibers from the program’s circular fashion initiative and traditional papermaking techniques. Her final design was inspired by the primitive, raw quality of the experimental material.

“Samantha created SCAURA as part of my senior capstone course on Innovative Fashion Product Development,” Eike said. “The goal of the course is for students to rethink materials, value systems, and waste as part of circular design. Samantha fully embraced that challenge.”

Another noteworthy honoree was associate professor Ling Zhang who earned the 2025 ITAA Teaching Excellence Award and received three additional honors for scholarly work.

“I am truly honored to receive the ITAA Teaching Excellence Award,” Zhang said. “This recognition reflects not only my work, but also the strong academic reputation and leadership of the Iowa State Fashion Design and Merchandising program.”

Huynh’s winning design, SCAURA.
Associate professor Ling Zhang received the 2025 ITAA Teaching Excellence Award

ITAA is the leading professional association for students, educators and scholars in textiles, apparel and merchandising. Its annual conference draws hundreds of participants worldwide to share peer-reviewed research on topics including sustainable fashion, ethical apparel and adaptive design.

Zhang said the conference remains a vital platform for showcasing teaching and research on an international stage, adding that Iowa State faculty and students presented a total of 40 scholarly works this year.

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