Students Host Multicultural 'Fashion Without Borders' Show
The student-organized Marist Multicultural Fashion Show was hosted under a theme this year titled as ‘Fashion Without Borders’. Photo by Anaiya Bobo 23’.
Year after year, the Marist College fashion department never fails to dress to impress with its series of events — this semester is no exception.
On Dec. 1, Marist hosted its annual Multicultural Fashion Show in the Steel Plant building, which featured an evening of clothing, food and musical selections representative of the various cultures at the college.
The show was co-hosted by the Center for Multicultural Affairs and the fashion merchandising students taking an event planning course. Students in the class were tasked with organizing and hosting an event for the Marist community. After a drop in show attendance during the post-COVID years, the Center sought a collaboration with the course to boost numbers again.
The class members decided upon the name ‘Fashion Without Borders’ as a nod to the wide range of diversity and representation the night showcased. Featured clothing items included a combination of student and alumni contributions, Steel Plant gallery works and pieces from the Marist Archives.
“We wanted to make it something different than what had ever been done before,” said Ashley Redway ‘24. “Last year, it had no theme, so we thought giving it a name would be more interesting and make people stop and ask, ‘Oh, what is this about?’”
Redway has been a part of the process since the beginning. As an event planning student and leader of the promotion team, she took on tasks like managing social media, casting models and hiring a hair and makeup team in the weeks leading up to the show.
“It’s been great because our entire class is mostly seniors,” said Redway. “We have people who have been involved in things, had internships, even done New York Fashion Week multiple times.”
Also a student in the course, Julia Zulin ‘24, gained a newfound skill set in her experience with the show.
“I always do things more on the communications side, so I wanted to get more hands-on with this and challenge myself by being on the logistics side of things,” said Zulin.
As a member of the logistics team, Zulin helped coordinate the behind-the-scenes production by working with vendors and communicating with the Center to ensure they were meeting the night’s goals.
“My favorite part about the process has been just seeing it all unfold,” said Zulin. “We started with nothing but an idea that CMA gave us many years prior, so it’s been interesting to draw back on that experience and try to upgrade it for this year.”
The show was created to foster understanding, appreciation, and unity between people of different backgrounds, and Redway hopes the event succeeded in offering attendees a sense of belonging. For her, the event comes down to three principles: community, culture and support.
“Although we all go to Marist, I know a lot of people of color and minorities at this school, like myself, feel like there isn’t a space for us, or we go into spaces where we’re the only person in the class of color,” said Redway. “Part of the CMA’s mission with this event is to bring awareness to the fact that there is a community of us here.”