Designer, Apparel Alumnus Torres to Host Fashion Facebook Live Event With AMPD's Apple

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Rulli Torres and Laurie Apple are broadcasting "DesignTech" Thursday at noon on Facebook Live.

U of A graduate Rulli Torres, a fashion designer and entrepreneur in Dallas, is hosting a Facebook Live event and has asked associate professor Laurie Apple to join him for the episode.

Torres earned his bachelor's degree in what is now apparel merchandising and product development in 2011 and launched his own brand in 2013. He was approached by Red de Talentos Mexicanos (Talented Mexicans Network) and the Mexican Consulate to be part of its Arts & Sciences webinar series lineup.

Torres and Apple are co-hosting a "DesignTech" episode, which will originate from campus on Thursday at noon. "DesignTech" may become a regular bi-monthly series.

Torres and Apple will discuss how fashion is an art and also a science, and talk about the apparel program, which is part of the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

The hour-long show is available through Facebook Live and can be accessed through the Consulado General de Mexico en Dallas page here. Viewers can watch live or the recording later.

Torres, who graduated from Rogers High School and attended NorthWest Arkansas Community College before transferring to the U of A, specializes in women's gowns, but also works with ready-to-wear custom orders, costumes, bridal and anything related to apparel or designing.

He opened a modeling school and agency in Dallas in 2019 and participated in New York Fashion Week in 2013. He drew the attention of the Mexican Consulate and various media outlets with a COVID-19 gallery exhibit in 2020.

This year he is producing the Third Annual Rulli PINK Fashion Show in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Torres was named Outstanding Alumnus by NWACC in 2014 and as part of a 25th anniversary celebration in 2015, he and the college organized a fashion show sponsored by Walmart.

His ready-to-wear collection can be found at rullitorres.com.

Apple is part of the AMPD faculty and was one of Torres's professors. Her focus is on product development and apparel fit using innovative digital technologies, including 3-D body scanning. She has earned grants for body scanning and innovative technology projects, and earned the ATEXINC Award for Innovation in Textile Instruction from the International Textile and Apparel Association in 2015.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 3% of colleges and universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.