UC Fan and Fashion Student Colleen O Callaghan Designs Bearcat Bodywear

University of Cincinnati fashion student Colleen O’Callaghan recently scored a spirit wear success in a studio course led by George Sarofeen, assistant professor of design, where the students were asked to create active wear garments.

O’Callaghan, a third-year student in UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and an avid amateur rugby player, opted to design her own mix-and-match, unisex Bearcat bodywear “because I love the University of Cincinnati, and it’s a way for our advanced fashion design program to be represented more widely on campus.”

And she adds, “I honestly love to design and create. I think the best part of this project involving Bearcat gear was that I had the opportunity to design and create something that I’m extremely passionate about because it’s about my school.”

However, she admits, “I haven’t had the chance to wear my designs yet because they’re for cold weather. When I get the chance, I plan to wear the gear to UC varsity games and to my own rugby games.”

That might have to wait until the new year since currently, O’Callaghan – a 2011 graduate of Xenia High School in Xenia, Ohio – is currently on a UC cooperative education work term in New York City with Aeropostale, Inc. There, she is working for the “Live, Love, Dream” line conducting research on fabrics and design, and helping designers to prepare their visual presentations.

(

Cooperative education

, or co-op as it’s called, is the practice of alternating semesters in the classroom with semesters of paid, professional work related directly to a student’s major. UC is the global founder of co-op, having established the world’s first co-op program in 1906. Today, that co-op is ranked in the nation’s Top Ten, and UC co-op students earn a

collective $43 million annually

by co-opping.)

O’Callaghan’s Bearcat bodywear project has confirmed for her a long-term goal to design athletic apparel as a career, perhaps for Under Armour, Inc., Nike, Inc., or another athletic company.

She explains, “I’m an extremely active person, and I want to share my passion for excellence in both design and athletics. And active wear and athletic apparel is a too-often ignored area of the fashion market, and I want to help change that. This project is a first step toward that.”

• Apply to UC’s undergraduate fashion design program.