By Lee Anna Sherman
OSU is tightly linked with the Portland area’s apparel community. Examples include:
The OSU Design Network
The network brings together professionals across the industry for informal gatherings and annual events in Portland, like last year’s Recycled Fashion Show — the longest-running fashion show of designs made from recycled materials in the country.
OSU’s Apparel Research Center
The center offers fabric-testing services to small firms and start-ups. At the Textile and Apparel Performance Testing Lab, clients can get measurements on a full array of variables in fabric and clothing construction (yarn count, weight, thickness), aesthetics (wrinkle recovery, drape, stiffness), durability (tear strength, abrasion resistance) and comfort (thermal properties, moisture management).
This fall, the center is expanding into Portland, where it will host a series of research-based workshops for design professionals at the university’s Food Innovation Center on N.W. Naito Parkway. Topics on the agenda include sizing and fabric grading, sourcing and sustainable textiles and materials.
Design Forum/PDX
This partnership among the Portland Development Commission, the City of Portland and the Oregon University System, along with private-sector businesses, is compiling the West Coast’s first materials resource library available to design professionals. OSU’s Leslie Burns serves on the forum’s board of directors.
