sara turke 

Every year at Iowa State University, students enroll in a course called Senior Design Studio where they take all the skills they’ve learned over the past three years. In the course, the students create a collection of garments designed for a designated target market. Not only do we create beautiful designs, but we dive deeper into the world of research and develop target markets with statistics to back ourselves up. Within the four month time span, we conduct market research, survey people, create customer profiles with realistic budgets, and then use all that information to create a minimum of three designs that fit our designated target markets. Whew! Lots to do, but so much fun.

After interning with Caitlin Elizabeth Bridal & Alterations, I learned that there were limited options for evening wear for the mother of the bride/groom. While interning, we would consistently hear from the mothers and how they struggled to find something that looked nice, but that was also age appropriate. We consistently would see the same dresses from mothers because companies didn’t offer too many options. Therefore, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and work with a target market much older than myself. A lot of research went into my collection because I truly valued the opinions of what everyone was looking for. I’m extremely proud of my designs that I’ve created and I hope you enjoy. With that being said, I introduce to you….La Mère.