There is a dull fluorescent glow in a classroom on the eighth floor of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts building.

Inside, the graduating Fashion Design and Merchandising (FDM) majors are gathered, planning for the moment they announce themselves to the Philippine fashion world and possibly beyond.

Countless days have been allotted for batch meetings and mentorships, and now they anxiously wait for the day when all the hard work will come to fruition.

On April 5, 8 p.m., at the Le Pavilion events place in Pasay City, the DLS-CSB FDM Department will present “Design Surge 2014”—the 15th Annual Graduation Showcase featuring 65 student designers.

The show is divided into women’s wear, men’s wear, children’s wear, maternity and bridal wear.

This year’s batch has shown an upsurge of inborn talent, skill and understanding of the art of fashion.

Forget the glamour, the glitz and the ostentatiousness of the fashion world. This year, get ready to witness a demonstration of expertise and originality that these student designers have been preparing to show.

Back in 1996, Tessie Galang’s Madonna School of Fashion Design (MSFD) partnered with DLS-CSB to create the Fashion and Merchandising Program, which offered fashion design courses focusing on the conceptualization, development and production of fashion merchandise.

It was created to address the need for well-trained and highly talented fashion designers and merchandisers in the Philippines.

The fashion course instruction was given by MSFD, while the general subjects and merchandising courses were provided by DLS-CSB.

What was born out of that marriage was a program that challenges students to perform ordinary things extraordinarily well, and to cross the threshold of monotony toward greatness in the making of clothes.

Now, 18 years and hundreds of successful designers later, the FDM program continues to nurture and produce professionals, trained and ready to take on the competitive world of the fashion industry.

This year’s show promises to showcase a plethora of individual styles.

It’s one of the most awaited fashion shows by DLS-CSB students.