Students reimagine Carnival throws in Textile Lab
January 26, 2026
BY Emily capdeville
Patti Dunn wears a lot of hats as Professor of Practice in Design and Textiles Lab coordinator and founder of New Orleans' Tchoup Industries. Her innovative approach to sewn goods design, developed over two decades, undergirds her studio's most recent Mardi Gras-focused project, which was featured on the Tulane News website this month. Using reclaimed materials from leftover police uniforms and other discarded textiles, students created fanny packs and fidget mazes that will be thrown by the Mystic Krewe of Conus in an effort to keep unrecyclable material off the streets.
Dunn joined the faculty as part of the Design program, whose mission is to "equip students to use design as a language, to explore via design thinking, and to apply a solutions-based design methodology to address the most urgent challenges of our time." Dunn's work clearly helps students invent solutions that maintain cultural integrity while striving to solve complex and far-reaching problems.
Read the full feature on this Design Lab over on the Tulane News website.
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