Senior creates official cream, crimson plaid

Linda Xiong tried to explain what creating an IU tradition meant to her.

“I’m having trouble finding words today, I guess,” she said, then laughed.

Xiong said she feels a little overwhelmed.

Just a week ago, she received the official news that she had created the winning IU plaid design. IU joined the ranks of schools such as the University of Kentucky  that have official plaids.

Now, scarves, sweatshirts, rain boots and the like will sport her design for years to come as official IU wear.

“It’s a great feeling to be a part of tradition,” Xiong said. “It’s almost like giving back. My design will hopefully lay the groundwork for students to get more involved.”

A senior majoring in apparel merchandising and fashion design, Xiong said she considers herself a “huge IU fan.”

When she started working on the soon-to-win design, she said she was meticulous in every aspect. She didn’t use white because she said it would make IU’s cream color look yellow, and she shied away from black for fear that the outcome could resemble another school.

“I didn’t want it took like something you could buy at Aeropostale,” she said. “Well, I did and I didn’t.”

Words such as warp and weft, terminology in design software, wound in and out of her sentences as she tried to explain the process of creating the single plaid tile. Finally, she brought it back to the basics.

“In the end, I decided, ‘Simplify, simplify,’” she said. “That’s probably the best way to go.”

The result was a tile composed of three colors — cream, crimson and a
darker crimson.

Though Xiong said she definitely did her research before beginning the project, she was surprised she won because she had no idea who she was up against. 

As vice president of students in Free Enterprise, she spent the weeks before the deadline advertising the competition through flyers and class announcements with the mentality of “I’m doing it. You guys should, too.”

However, being a contestant herself, her involvement ended there.

Xiong said she is especially proud of the attention her victory is bringing to
her department.

“You don’t hear much of us until after we graduate,” she said, citing examples such as IU graduate Scott Schuman, who runs the Sartorialist, a popular fashion blog. “I’m hoping that I can leave behind this project for the underclassmen so that they can see the process behind product development.”

Though Xiong said she has managed to not get caught up in the prospect of what her accomplishment could mean, the implication that people will be wearing her design 50 years from now brings a quick hand to her forehead, as she closes her eyes and gives a smile.

“I think that’s my grand prize,” Xiong said. “That years from now, how people are going to be wearing my plaid … that it could be a gift to alum, students, babies. Maybe it’s a little thing, but it’s big to me.”