It is fourth period at Henry W. Grady High School in Midtown, and eight students are slumped around a 60-foot-long outline of blue tape on the gymnasium floor. On Saturday, the tape will become the runway on which 11 seniors in Grady's noted fashion program will show the clothing collections they've spent all year creating.

For designers then but a few weeks from a debut, the students seem unenthusiastic. That is, until Julianna Strack, having surveyed the runway's shape, comes to a realization. The wings she designed for her outfits might cause a collision. She frantically waves her hand for the teacher's attention.

Joey Ivansco/AJC (ENLARGE)

Caitlin Garcia-Ahern, a Grady senior, works on her collection for Saturday's UrbanCouture fashion show.

RELATED LINKS: • More photos FASHION SHOW UrbanCouture No. 5 Production 8 p.m. Saturday in the Grady Gymnasium, 929 Charles Allen Drive N.E. Advance tickets, $15, via www.ticketalternative.com, or $20 at the door. MEET THE DESIGNERS Eleven senior designers will feature themed collections in Saturday's UrbanCouture show. Here's a list of the students and their styles: LaChrisha Baker: Harlem Renaissance revisited Millaun Clay: urban jungle Caroline Denton: pirate chic Caitlin Garcia-Ahern: fresh and lovely Eleanor Garrett: draped femininity Meredith Gray: seven deadly sins Shekita Johnson: future Adrien Lewis: unique sassy ruffles Julianna Strack: winged creatures Ariana Thompson: contemporary Victorian Leah Williams: ruched and pleated elegance LIVING Latest Headlines: Watch your step: Popular shoes can lead to injuries  Friends gather to discuss, cherish theater  Upscale day care center promotes green lifestyle  Group aims to find forgotten burial sites  Taking 'stay-cation'? Georgia Aquarium has deal for you  • More Living Stories • Living photo galleries

"Should I just do single file?" she asks.

It's a catwalk conundrum that Strack would have to straighten out before Saturday's show because this isn't some janky high school production she's gotten herself into — this is UrbanCouture.

Five years ago, Grady art teacher Vincent Martinez launched UrbanCouture with 40 students. Today, the 100-student program is a cornerstone of the school's arts academy. Its end-of-the-year fashion show involves the efforts of almost 200 Grady students who serve as models, lighting technicians and more. It also is powered by generous donations from parents and local businesses. Proceeds from sales of the $15 and $20 tickets are funneled back into the program, which requires about $5,000 per year to stay afloat, and that mostly covers the cost of materials. This year, for the first time, the show will be judged and the winner presented with a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by local designers Project E.

UrbanCouture, which already has gained local notoriety, will get a taste of national exposure in a planned MTV reality series. This week, cameras are at Grady shooting footage for "Fashion High," a new reality show documenting the lives of high school and college students studying fashion.

Those who go on to study fashion design in college find the Grady experience puts them light years ahead of peers. And most UC grads are left with the lessons teachers hope their students absorb: a sense of responsibility, individuality, problem-solving skills and the ability to work well with others.

Oh, and it's fashion, so learning all that stuff is fun. Sometimes.

"You would think, how can they fall asleep in fashion, but when I'm talking about a fashion designer or lecturing them about how to make a dress, it sometimes puts them to sleep," Martinez says. "They want to make stuff. But that's not enough. The fundamentals [are] not always the most exciting part of any subject, but you have to learn it before you can do it."

Having to redo a dress three, five or 10 times because you've made a technical error is a good way to learn the value of fundamentals.

"I would see some of the senior designers crying," says current senior Ariana Thompson, 18, who had been afraid to sign up for UC. "I don't deal well with pressure."

But when her mom bought her a sewing machine the summer before her junior year, she decided to learn to use it. For her collection, she took inspiration from the movie "Marie Antoinette" to create ambitious pouf dresses with big necklines. When she tried to cut corners on one dress by leaving the zipper sewn in backward, she got busted.

"Mr. Martinez always catches me when I try to go around something," she says. "This class teaches you the lesson that procrastination really sucks."

In 2002, then-assistant principal Naomi Grishman approached Martinez about teaching fashion design. Martinez asked one question: "Why?"

Grishman said the school was expanding its art program, and fashion design was an area of interest to Grady students. Martinez took two semesters of fashion design at the Atlanta College of Art to brush up. He expected to teach one fashion class that first year, but demand was high enough to warrant two.

The first fashion show featured an oval runway with lights that were too bright and fashions that were just OK, but it was a hit anyway, and the following year, the course had a waiting list.

The buzz spread beyond the walls of Grady, and local businesses, including Carter Barnes and Project E, began donating time and resources to help students pull the show together.

"It is a great learning experience for them," Martinez says, "but it also makes the show that much more professional. What I try to instill in my students is a work ethic."

Senior designers work after school, during free periods and on Saturdays as the show draws near. This year they even designed doggie outfits to raise money for Pets are Loving Support (PALS) in addition to outfits for a fashion show at Luxe Atlanta to raise money for the program. Both have become annual events.

Samuel Williams' varied Grady experiences helped him when he arrived on the campus of Johnson and Wales University, one of three male students in its fashion program.

"I thought all the girls were going to be on top of their game, but it turns out all of them love Chanel earrings, Coach bags and Ugg boots, and they don't really know anything about where the stuff comes from," says Williams, now a sophomore studying marketing communications and fashion merchandising. "Grady really opened my eyes up to what goes into the production of fashion shows and product development."

Martinez hadn't been sure Williams was ready to be a senior designer for UC when he was at Grady. Though Williams had talent, Martinez was baffled by his insistence on using upholstery in his designs.

"I started saying things to him like, 'Omigod, what are you doing? These dresses look like sofas,' " Martinez recalls.

But Williams persisted. "I realized it was not just a phase, he had a vision," Martinez says.

Williams went on to create one of the most talked-about collections to come out of the program, teaching his teacher an important lesson.

"I have learned to step back and allow this young person, this student, this talented designer to do his or her thing because they will blow you away if you give them the opportunity to express themselves," Martinez says. "Just because you are 16 years old doesn't mean you don't have a voice."

Two weeks before this year's show, Martinez gathered in the UC room at Grady with three seniors. The day, a Saturday, had started at 9 a.m. with a breakfast of quiche, fruit and coffee at Martinez's house. He presented each designer with a T-shirt and a sterling silver dog tag with "UC" engraved on it.

"It was a nice opportunity for us to meet and get out of the classroom and just have a good time," he says. But back among the fabric bolts and the sewing stations, with a Chris Brown CD playing in the background, it was back to business.

As Millaun Clay, 17, waited to start a rehearsal, she fitted one model in a body-skimming halter dress. The model spun in front of the mirror, and Martinez's eyes widened.

"I know, I know. I'm already ahead of you on that one," said Clay, showing how she planned to add material and prevent overexposure of the model's chest.

Martinez relaxed. But it was easy to understand his anxiety. After all, this isn't some cheesy high school sideshow he's running.

This is UrbanCouture.