Peyton Manker is an 18-year-old senior student from Sparta, Illinois who decided to try her luck and entered the contest. Now, she enjoys drawing, reading, and hiking in her free time, but sewing and designing clothing is something new to her.

At first, she thought she’d be crafting a dress dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci, a favorite of hers. However, the pandemic struck and the prom and graduation festivities were canceled. So, it was time for plan B. She decided to make a COVID-19 themed dress. She had a hunch nobody else would, and it would be one that definitely stands out from the rest. So, she got cracking on the design.

“If you saw me crafting my dress, you’d usually see me sitting on the floor in athletic shorts, an old t-shirt and a very messy ponytail hunched over a cutting board and trying to cut tiny pieces of tape with a very tiny knife,” Peyton jokingly explained a typical day of crafting the dress.