Marist’s 36th Silver Needle Runway: A Dream Coming True
Silver Needle Runway 36 focuses on the theme "Dream," and how all of our dreams are achievable if we put are all into it. Source: @silverneedlerunway created by @beccadefrancesco @sydneysred
Many have dreams that they can only hope they’ll one day bring to reality. On May 6, the Silver Needle Runway will be bringing a number of peoples' dreams to fruition.
Marist College’s Silver Needle Runway has been around since 1984, and has only grown to larger heights in more recent years. Produced entirely by students, from the garments appearing on the models made by the senior Fashion Design students to the overall production of the show, these have been dreams in the making for a large body of students.
The theme of SNR 36 is “Dream,” and it is a theme that can connect with anyone that comes to see the show. As stated on the Marist SNR 36 website, the theme this year is meant to, “evoke a release from today’s social stressors that plague our society, and explore the limitless opportunities that lie beyond our current reality.” In the eyes of Julia Mazzella ‘22, the Communications Director of SNR, the theme accentuates that concept and more. “We always kind of put our dreams on hold and we want to make sure that the dreaming never really stops as you are always evolving your life and always diving into your imagination.”
Through this theme, Mazzella wants the audience to feel inspired to, “enter this world beyond our reality and bring those dreams into our current reality.” For the Communications Director personally, however, she states that “Dream” means that whatever you set your mind to, you can achieve. “It is all about putting in the work and visualizing yourself in that position.”
As the Communications Director of SNR 36, Mazzella is in charge of much of the behind-the-scenes work that makes everyone's dreams of the show turn into reality. She is in charge of ticketing, seating and the editor of the SNR newsletter “Through The Needle,” as well as hosting their podcast “Daydreamers,” which provides college students with career advice, triumphs and failures alongside special guests who worked on previous SNR shows. These are just a few of the roles amongst the masses that Mazzella takes on.
Along with the theme, the SNR team also focuses heavily on their six pillars: sustainability, creativity, collaboration, diversity, innovation, leadership & transparency. Specifically when it comes to sustainability, Mazzella states that they have reused material from SNR 35 and have added a number of virtual aspects to the show to eliminate paper and waste. Diversity is one of the other larger pillars being exemplified in multiple ways throughout SNR 36.
“We are accepting models of all different shapes, sizes and colors and we are very diverse in the ideas that we all have, so we are very inclusive in that sense. We are always willing to hear feedback from people…that is how it is in the real world, you are always going to get some sort of feedback from other people and it is really important to take that and run with it rather than just look at your ideas and think that you are right,” Mazzella said.
SNR 36 tries to encourage the audience to see themselves in their dream roles and in their dream worlds, following whatever they set their heart on with passion. Yet, sometimes these “social stressors,” as stated on the website, hinder many from being able to fully follow the dreams they desire most.
“Dreaming is something everyone can do, and it is something we often forget about, especially when we get wrapped up with everything going on in the world currently.” Mazzella notes that when the pandemic began, so many had to put their dreams on hold as they could not see an end in sight past the dark cloud of lockdowns and second waves of the virus. Yet, this theme itself, “is a reminder to continue to dream no matter what is going on and that dreaming is the force that will keep moving us forward.”
SNR 36 is a little less than a month away, and for the Silver Needle Runway directors, only one word can truly describe how they are feeling as they watch their visions all come together: surreal. And for many who have worked on their designs for the past four years as well as have finally gotten to contribute to putting on the Silver Needle Runway, it is a dream come true.