Without End-of-Year School Fashion Shows, How Are Design Graduates Showcasing Their Work?
Finishing thesis collections and showcasing them from quarantine has created both challenges and opportunities for fashion school grads.
While marquee-name designers are still trying figure out if and how they’ll approach Spring 2021 fashion shows come September, a different group of designers has already been forced to navigate this challenge, and without much time to prepare.
Typically, May is when prominent design schools hold runway events — sometimes doubling as fundraisers — where at least a selection of graduating students get to showcase their work. They might also get their garments judged in-person by faculty and/or a jury of industry professionals. Potential employers can be among the audience members.
For many graduating students, these runway shows represent everything they’ve been working toward throughout their undergraduate and graduate careers. They enter fashion school as freshmen or first-year