A student majoring in textiles and apparel at The University of Texas at Austin last night was announced to have won a prestigious national scholarship from a leading international fashion industry group. Avani Patel's innovative design idea, which combines 3D printing and 3D modeling to make custom-fit leather shoes, is one of a handful of concepts from UT Austin textiles and apparel students to have won national awards in recent weeks.
Patel was one of eight finalists nationwide in the Geoffrey Beene YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund competition who were challenged to come up with a product that combined 3D printing and sustainability. The finalists presented their case studies to a panel made up of executives from top businesses in the fashion industry, competing for $30,000 scholarships.
"Just the opportunity to be able to hopefully impress these people and get to know them is really invaluable," said Patel.
In constructing her winning concept, Patel was inspired by recent research where scientists grew leather in the lab from existing animal cells. She envisioned fusing this technology with 3D printing to create leather that would be more sustainable and humane.
Patel next brought in the idea of using orthopedic foot scanners to create 3D models of an individual's feet. These models could then be utilized to custom-print leather shoes that would fit perfectly.
Patel and the other three finalists who were selected as Geoffrey Beene Scholars were announced on January 12, 2016, at an awards dinner hosted by YMA in New York.
Prior to winning this award, Patel won $5,000 scholarships from YMA both last year and this year. In just its second year as a member school of YMA's affiliated network of nearly 50 universities and design institutes, five additional textiles and apparel students at UT Austin received scholarships of $5,000 from YMA: Daeci Dinh, Debby Garcia, Tami Gumilar, Clare Moore, and Sara Northcutt.
All scholarship recipients were invited to participate in an internship fair held the day after the awards banquet. Each year, YMA is able to secure internships for each scholarship recipient with companies that include Macy's, Ralph Lauren, and Levi Strauss & Co.
Originally from Sugarland, Texas, Patel has spent the past few summers interning in New York for Tory Burch, Bibhu Mohapatra and Oscar de la Renta. After graduating in May, Patel, who is also a finance and business honors major, plans to switch gears and do management strategy consulting with the Boston Consulting Group in Dallas.
Eventually Patel hopes to bring her case study concept to life. "The idea of 3D printing leather is probably going to take a while to become legitimate," she notes, "but I would be more than happy to develop it in the future."
According to its website, "Founded in 1937, The YMA Fashion Scholarship fund is an international non-profit organization composed of influential members of the fashion industry. The Fashion Scholarship Fund's goal is to advance the fashion industry by encouraging gifted and enterprising young people to pursue careers in design, merchandising, retailing and business so the industry will continue to attract dedicated, capable and creative individuals."
