Project Funway

Interior designers are pros at dressing spaces. But once a year, they try their hand at dressing human models for Fusion + Fashion, a charitable fundraiser hosted by the Northland chapter of the International Interior Design Association. There's one quirky ground rule: Designers must use materials customarily used for interior-design projects. We checked in with one team, Kristy Litwinczuk and Rian Nelson, designers for CorePower Yoga, and Nick Nelson [no relation], designer, Formica, as they worked on their creation on a recent evening at Litwinczuk's St. Paul home.

Q You [Nick Nelson and Litwinczuk] won the "Unique Materials" category last year [for a little black dress made of strips of laminate and fabric containing recycled cassette tapes]. Do you feel pressure to top yourself?

Litwinczuk: Yes. And the year before that, I worked on one that won for 'Most Outrageous.' Three years in a row would be fun.

N. Nelson: It's important to differentiate yourself and explore materials that are a little more foreign for fashion.

R. Nelson: You try to be different, but it's hard. Everyone who does this has a creative mind.

Q What are you working with this year?

A Faux leather, laminate strips, chicken wire and upholstery fabric, in a white-on-white color scheme with wood-grain accents. [Their materials were donated by their sponsors, Designtex and Formica Brand Laminate.]

Litwinczuk: And birds. We have a tradition. A bird in the hair every year.

Q What's the inspiration for this year's outfit?

Litwinczuk: A 15th-century duchess outfit -- big and poufy.

N. Nelson: We all need something not so serious right now, with the economy.

Q Kristy, you're going to walk the runway again this year. What's it like wearing Formica?

Litwinczuk: Extremely uncomfortable. Last year, I had cuts under my arms. This year, I'm more afraid of falling off my shoes. I'll be wearing 7-inch heels.

N. Nelson: And her hair will be 14 inches high. She'll be over 8 feet tall, which is awesome!

Q Any other occupational hazards?

N. Nelson: Working with chicken wire. We had to cut the wire to bend it. I had cuts all over.

R. Nelson: Danger is part of the job.

Q What's challenging about using nontraditional clothing materials?

Litwinczuk: None of us have any idea how to sew, which is why we don't sew. This year, we used upholstery tacks, last year nuts and bolts. Nick has an architectural background, so he's good at thinking about construction, how things are put together." [Other tools at their work table included a blow dryer, staple gun, spray starch, drill, wire cutters and pliers.]

Q Does this exercise influence the way you use materials in interior design projects?

Litwinczuk: As a designer, it opens up your mind. We recently used upholstery fabric, suspended from the ceiling, to soundproof one of our yoga studios. It looks beautiful, and it works.

R. Nelson: You see the possibilities the material will allow.

Q What will you be adding to this dress before it hits the runway?

N. Nelson: More upholstery fabric, more laminate. And this year, we'll have technology -- lighting and video. We're going to embed an iPod Touch in the outfit. We're going to decorate her skin, too -- sort of a take on Indian mehndi painting.

Q What happens to the dresses after the show?

Litwinczuk: Ours from last year is in a box. It'll be displayed at [this year's] show. It's still in one piece. But it wasn't meant to be danced in.

Kim Palmer • 612-673-4784