Two of the Czech Republic’s most prominent fashion designers, Tatiana Kovarikova and Jaroslava Prochaskova, will be guests of the Department of Textiles Clothing and Design, College of Education and Human Sciences the week of February 9th. The designers will show their high fashion garment lines and discuss their contributions in establishing Prague as an emerging European fashion center. Through programming directed by Professor Barbara Trout that includes interactions with students in the classroom, receptions, meetings with community organizations and a public lecture, the two designers will describe the development of their businesses to include design, production and marketing since the Velvet Revolution in 1989. They will provide insight into the formation of the Fashion Alliance of the Czech Republic and discuss the current global context of the fashion industry. Tatiana and Jaroslava continue to be leading Czech designers and have shown their apparel designs at market at fashion centers such as Paris, Rotterdam, London and New York. Their designs have appeared in the pages of magazines that include French Vogue, European editions of Elle magazine and Prague’s Luxury Shopping Guide. An exhibition curated by Trout featuring their designs over the last ten years will open at the Hillestad Textiles Gallery on February 9th . The exhibition will showcase high fashion that spans categories from outerwear to eveningwear along with fashion photography. Included in the exhibit are costumes that Jaroslava designed for theatre and film indicating the diversity of these designers. A highlight of the exhibit is a grouping of eveningwear decorated with oversized crystals, one of the countries domestic products. Beautifully tailored suits in the exhibit are crafted of novelty weaves while one dazzling coat is created of faux fur with a black on white leather, alphabet motif. Imaginative and body conscious their designs are accurately described as fashion forward with an urban edge. The exhibit and accompanying events are supported in part by the Nebraska Arts Council, The University of Nebraska Research Council and the Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery. Everyone is invited to hear the two designers talk about their designs and experiences at 2:00 pm in Rm. 11 of the Home Economics Building on February 15th. There will be a reception following the lecture in conjunction with the Friends of the Hillestad Gallery’s Annual meeting. Another significant dimension to this project will occur during UNL’s pre-session 2009 , when 26 students from the Textiles Clothing and Design department will travel to the Czech Republic to study the vast design treasures of Prague and to visit and interact with Jaroslava and Tatiana at their design studios and atelier in the center of this European city.