New UK Plaid Products Now in Stores

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 19, 2011) — In what is quickly becoming an annual tradition, a new selection of University of Kentucky Plaid products is now available through UK vendors and through the UK Plaid website http://www.UKplaid.com.

This is the third set of official UK-licensed products from the UK Plaid Project. The plaid design was created by former UK students Christina Criollo and Jena Everhard and voted on by nearly 12,000 UK students, fans and alumni in 2008.

The plaid’s seven black stripes represent the seven NCAA championships won by the UK men’s basketball team, and the blue background demonstrates the pride the state has for its flagship university and its far-reaching impact.

Each year, students in Scarlett Wesley’s Merchandising Strategy Analysis class in the UK College of Agriculture’s School of Human Environmental Sciences create designs for new products. From those designs, the UK Plaid Advisory Committee selects the next products.

New products this year include the first UK Plaid paper products and the first product with madras style design, featuring two different sizes of UK Plaid.

“What’s so valuable about this project is the students get to see all the steps in product development from an idea to the final product,” said Wesley, assistant professor of Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles. “It’s the in-between steps where the learning happens because things don’t always go how you plan and then how do you handle that.”

New products and suggested retail prices are:

• Thermos, $18

• 8, 10-inch dinner paper plates, $6.50

• 8, 8-inch appetizer paper plates, $4.50

• 16 paper dinner napkins, $4.50

• 16 paper cocktail napkins, $3.50

• Set of 2 tea towels, $18

• Set of 2 ruffled oven mitts, $28

• Quilted tote, $32

• Wristlet, $18

• Wildcat carryall, $66

• Garment bag, $120

• Madras hobo bag, $48
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A portion of the proceeds from the sale of UK Plaid products benefit the UK Department of Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles.

 MEDIA CONTACT:  Carl Nathe, (859) 257-3200, carl.nathe@uky.edu