For the first time in textile/apparel education, students from three colleges are using computer technology and the Internet to simulate the way apparel will be designed in the near future: communicating and editing technical and visual information electronically and collaborating via computer with associates at distant sites.

To train these students as realistically as possible, apparel designer and principal investigator Susan P. Ashdown, professor in Cornell University's textile and apparel department, is inviting input from apparel textile designers and apparel designers/merchandisers to consult on current and future needs of the industry, assist in developing realistic scenarios for the project and help assess outcomes of the project.

"This collaborative, computer-based educational experience for undergraduate textile and apparel majors at three institutions -- Cornell, State University College of Buffalo and the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science -- is designed to train talented students for the predicted realities of the industry. They will create apparel products from design and pattern development to prototype production, following through on the third phase of the project to the retail environment. They can align themselves with industry associates across the nation and even around the world, via the Internet," said Ashdown, project organizer.

The American textile and apparel industry primarily comprises many small to medium-sized companies, with production located in rural areas, sometimes far removed from the big city fashion scene where the design process occurs. The use of electronic communication to develop products quickly within the structure of symbiotic firms making up the industry is the next anticipated development, Ashdown explained.

"To be of value to this very fragmented industry, today's students must be trained to communicate their creative and visual ideas and products in a high-technology setting," Ashdown said.

Currently, students learn to carry out the entire design process, from first idea to final garment, in relative isolation within the university's laboratories and studios. "This method does not prepare them well for what really happens in the industry, where more and more apparel is designed using CAD (computer aided design) by teams either within a single firm or between several firms," she said. A design team may find their ideas accepted or rejected by merchandisers who are often in another geographic area. Production decisions are typically made at yet another site, based on specifications developed for each garment. During the first year of the three-year project, the undergraduates at Cornell, Buffalo State and the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science are establishing their communication link and exchanging verbal and visual information about their designs. Next year, students will participate in an interactive design project developed jointly by cooperating faculty at the three institutions. During the third year, design teams will span the three institutions, exchanging and editing verbal, visual and technical information electronically.

"This project was designed to expose students to the types of interactions they will encounter in the industry and to encourage development of relevant skills. They will, in essence, experience first-hand the promise and pitfalls that occur with new technology," Ashdown concluded.

Industry responses can be sent to her at the Department of Textiles and Apparel, MVR Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853; fax (607) 255-1093 or e-mail: <spa4@cornell.edu>.

The research is supported by a $158,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a $227,000 donation of software from Info Design Inc., a computer-aided design and computer- aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) provider for the textile and apparel industry.