Mehlinger claims her passion for designing began "as soon as I could hold a needle."

At five, she remembers making pillows and doll's dresses. She later worked with patterns and eventually moved on to her own designs in her senior year of high school.

Though Mehlinger is uncertain about her future plans, she is attracted to the idea of creating her own lingerie label.

Mehlinger began sewing for the show in October, but had to "push my thesis work aside" for the past two months, when preparations for the collection could take up to 15 hours a day.

"Laura would come in with four new dresses she'd made overnight," said model Alexandra L. Fazio '01. "We had this sleeve floating about for a while, then one day, she'd transformed it into a dress."

That particular creation was a universal favorite among the models and staff. The notorious sleeve was made of sheer black fabric, and extended well past the hand. The other arm was left bare, with a simple black fabric making up the dress.

The dress was even noted in the Boston Globe article devoted to Mehlinger the day following the show.

Mehlinger's parents flew in from Arlington, Va. for the event.