The ballroom outfit for this evening is created year after year by students of the Costume Design Department of the SFedU Academy of Architecture and Arts as part of graduation projects and term papers.

A special creative environment is being formed at the Department of Design, where academic work is closely linked to practice. Future designers develop festive and ballroom costumes, which exist in a single copy and then replenish the department's archive. The rector's outfit refers specifically to such author's projects, demonstrating the level of preparation and attentive attitude to form, fabric and image.

The tradition of cooperation between the Rector's Office and the SFedU Academy of Architecture and Arts did not develop by chance. The university has talented students from a wide variety of fields, and their developments are regularly used outside the classroom. The projects of the Department of Design are an example of how an educational idea becomes a full—fledged creative work in demand in university life.

Over the years, Inna Shevchenko appeared at the ball in images from the works of students. In 2023, an outfit was chosen from the collection "Stars shine in the Blue Sea", created by Victoria Zaitseva under the guidance of senior lecturer at the Department of Design Maria Cherkasova. In 2024, the rector appeared in a dark blue dress from the collection of the course work of a third-year student Marina Shabunina. Her course project supervisor was senior lecturer Maria Cherkasova. In 2025, the tradition continued: the image was formed on the basis of the graduation collection of student Jasmine Pugieva, the girl created the work under the mentorship of associate professor of the Department of Design Daria Vasilisko.

This year, Inna Konstantinovna's costume is based on a jacket from the collection "Soul of Bamboo" by Shao Fan, a graduate of the Costume Design department in 2025, and Maria Cherkasova, a senior lecturer at the Department of Design, is the head of the research project. When creating the collection, he turned to the aesthetics of Giorgio Armani, the forms of traditional Chinese women's costumes and was inspired by the image of bamboo. This motif defined the color palette — a combination of shades of fresh green, beige and black — and was also reflected in decorative embroidery and fabric patterns. For a formal evening, the jacket will be complemented with a long skirt.

This approach allows us to maintain the continuity of the university tradition and at the same time, each year, to reveal in a new way the possibilities of young authors whose works become part of important events at the Southern Federal University.