As she looks over her dress design, MSU student, Lindsey Rank says, "It's going to be about knee length, so it will kind of hit here."
The excitement is building at MSU as fashion design students like Rank prepare dresses that the wife of James Cameron could wear on the red carpet through the Red Carpet Green Dress contest.

Rank began pinning a purple and pink colored fabric onto the shoulder area of the dress. She said, "This is ruched and gathered together to give a floral effect."

Suzy Amis Cameron launched the contest online. She's offering young designers the chance to make a dress that she will wear that focuses on sustainable design. Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Art History Theresa Winge says, "It seems like the competition was inspired by the movie Avatar to some degree. The movie Avatar kind of deals with issues of the environment."

The fabrics will include earth-friendly fibers and other eco touches. MSU student Lauren Myers says, "I focused on using all natural materials. I chose a Rayon knit fabric. It's supposed to be good for the environment and one thing I'm concentrating on with this design....after I get it done, I want to use all my scraps left over."

Rank says,"I wanted to go very organic with all the material...without dye because dyes are the cause of a lot of harm to the environment. I want to go with tea...and beautiful coloring of organic tea."

The students are part of Michigan State's spring semester class called, "Special Topics: Innovative Approaches in Apparel Design". About 18 students are entering their illustrations, but the competition is global. Lindsey says, "I hope she picks me."

Even if they don't win, the student's green dresses bring attention to the real-world assignments the "green and white" designers are tackling right here in Mid-Michigan.

A winner in the global competition could be announced as early as Friday. The competition raised funds for Cameron's MUSE elementary school project in California.