Naked, headless mannequins surrounded Michelle Carrillo as she pulled out a wrinkled black dress with a white rounded collar with violet darts around the bottom.

“The look is Goth school girl,” said apparel design major Carrillo, 21, adding that film director Tim Burton was one of her inspirations. She will showcase her line of clothes in Runway 2006, an annual fashion event organized by SF State’s Apparel Design and Merchandising department (ADM).

The show displays student designed “looks,” which is a single item, or “lines,” which is a collection of four to six articles of clothing. Although the show takes place in May, the department is already buzzing with excitement. It takes an entire semester to prepare for the event.

Seniors Raymond Gin and Noah Guy faced each other with their sketchbooks sprawled open on a table.

“Sensuality, film noir, espionage and suggestion” is scribbled on a page beneath the word “Intrigue,” which is the theme of this year’s show.

Gin and Guy are collaborating to produce a line that will combine the look and attitude of 1980s detective drama “Miami Vice,” and the 1950s Hollywood scene.

“[Miami Vice] reminds me of my childhood, a time when men had fierce style,” said Guy, 31.

Gin’s inspiration for this line and most of his work comes from the glamour of Hollywood stars in the 1950s. He said that was when America gained its own fashion sense.

Formerly industrial design students, Gin and Guy found their vocation when they explored fashion design.

“When I was in the army, I realized that there is a connection between clothing and identity,” Gin said.

Carrillo knew fashion design was her calling at a young age. She remembers having sketchbooks as a kid.

Carrillo, Gin and Guy must submit sketches or photos of their designs in two weeks, after which they will have a month to sew their garments. The sketches will need the ADM professors’ approval, before they are made. Models will then strut their clothing in McKenna Theatre on May 12.

According to Connie Ulasewicz, an ADM professor, the clothes have to be well constructed and complete.

Students studying apparel merchandising and interior design also have an integral role in the event’s production.

The Student Fashion Association, an organization open to the entire student body, oversees the operation every year.

“It’s going to showcase the great work that comes out of this department … this is a lot of hard work but it’s a very rewarding challenge,” said Danielle Allen, co-president of the association.

The SFA sets up a model casting call, holds a poster design contest and facilitates the stage design and construction process.

“We’re putting on an event, not a show,” Ulasewicz said.

The event first took place in 1999 and keeps growing as the ADM department becomes larger and the major becomes more popular.

Since it started, the runway event has given non-profit organizations money and exposure.

“The college as well as our department is really big on social justice,” said Allen, SFA co-president.

Ulasewicz wanted the event to comply with the school’s mission on social justice, and asked her students to look for organizations that involved community service and some aspect of ADM.

The event was free when it began seven years ago, but tickets now cost $7 and $5. Three to 5 percent of the net profit is donated to an organization.

Ulasewicz said the fashion event gives students an opportunity to dress mannequins and address social issues.

“It’s not just about going down the catwalk … we don’t need just another pretty dress,” Ulasewicz said.