The Cornell University women's ice hockey team has snazzy new uniforms, thanks to the creativity of a class of undergraduate students in textiles and apparel in the university's College of Human Ecology. Cornell is the only Ivy League university with a department of textiles and apparel; the project is a classic example of how faculty find "real life" interdisciplinary, practical challenges for students as vehicles for learning.

Last spring, students in Associate Professor Susan Ashdown's course, Apparel Design and Pattern Development, were assigned the task of designing a uniform for the Cornell women's ice hockey team.

"This was a complex design that had to meet the needs of the players, coach, fans, athletic association and manufacturer, as well as the movement and comfort of the players and aesthetics," explains Ashdown, a Cornell hockey fan. "Also, the uniform had to make the women look tough, not like candy canes," she says, noting that Cornell's colors are red and white.

The 11 students interviewed and measured the team members and studied their various needs. They also read up on the history of hockey and got information and a donation of fabric from Keybac Inc., a Montreal manufacturer. Their goal was to come up with home and away uniform designs that were lightweight, functional, attractive and provided good visual contrast on the ice.

After a fashion show, of sorts, during which students presented their designs, the hockey players selected the uniform design by Adrianna Hirtler '99, an agricultural, resource and managerial economics major. Hirtler currently is working as an assistant designer of active body wear in Manhattan, with hopes of working on more functional outdoor apparel design in the near future. "I'd like to integrate design with my background in natural resources -- which has always been a passion of mine -- to create environmentally conscious, functional and valuable garments for outdoor activities," she says.

Senior human ecology majors Lindsay Lyman-Clarke and Meghan Kelley were the first and second runners-up, respectively.

"We picked a uniform that had pizzazz and a touch of old-time flavor to it, with a tie eyelet that the old NHL [National Hockey League] uniforms had," says Carol Mullins, coach of the hockey team. "The lightweight nylon jersey has a nice gray mesh underarm cooling panel and numbers on the shoulders for visibility to the fans."

Keybac manufactured the set of uniforms from the Cornell designs.