I’m so excited to write about fashion at Cornell this week. No, I’m not delirious or ill. No, I’m not kidding. If Cornell had a “fashion week” à la NYC/Paris/London/anywhere else cultural and cool, I’d say this next coming week would be it. And just in time, too. I mean, the variable weather has been really playing upon my fragile fashion emotions. It’s like, please, LET ME PACK AWAY MY PARKA.
In the past, I have mentioned the Cornell Fashion Collective (CFC), which is an awesome and completely student-run fashion organization that produces an insanely professional runway show every April. Guess what? The blessed day is upon us: next Saturday, April 27, is the 29th Annual Cornell Fashion show! Held in Barton Hall (in order to accommodate the average crowd of over 3,000 people), the highly professional show “really looks like something you might see in the industry,” says CFC President Susan Freeman. Over 40 student designers will be sending over 150 handmade garments down the runway; these looks are the result of hundreds of hours of dedicated stitching, sewing, draping and downing coffee. I glimpsed at the incredible pieces that will be shown, and since I couldn’t even finish sewing a pillow in my seventh grade home ec class, I personally have tremendous respect for this crew.
The designers themselves range from freshman to seniors, and the number of looks per designer depends on the amount of previous participation in the club. Freshman Greta O’Haus will not only be showing her designs for the first time at Cornell, but for the first time ever on a runway. However, do not take that as a sign that this girl is planning to play it safe. She describes her style as “Luxe but linear. My piece is very dramatic. She is kind of looking like a space queen.” Um. OK. If that doesn’t intrigue you at all, then A) you never watched (and loved) the Disney Channel movie Zenon, and B) you may be beyond helping, and, like, sorry, I’m too busy to try. Seniors are of course showing, too — many of them with as many as five looks. These girls are complete professionals, with internships at big-name designers such as Marchesa, The Row and Erin Fetherston under their (chic Hermès) belts. I’ll bet you a black Birkin Bag their looks will blow you away. So, like, when they do, cough it up.
The CFC show isn’t the only reason I deemed next week Fashion Week, though. And, yes, I have the power to deem that. Says who? Irrelevant, moving on. On Wednesday, April 23, members of the Greek community organization “Phi Fashion” will host a charity fashion show to raise funds and awareness for the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF); the date of the show itself is Armenian Genocide Remembrance day. While the event will be hosted at 777 Stewart Avenue (the Alpha Delta Phi mansion), the team behind the scenes is comprised of individuals from over five different Greek organizations (and is assisted by a few people who are unaffiliated). This first-time event was thought-up by a current senior who “…wants to leave the Cornell Greek system better off than when he joined it in 2011. It spawned out of the idea that being Greek was once, but is no longer a positive affiliation,” said a rep of Phi Fashion. The philanthropic organization itself is especially dear to the members of Phi Fashion, who they feel it is comprised of entrepreneurs who “actually believe in the cause.” The entire show will feature looks from the LF Stores (ugh- trendy, edgy, fun). LF was chosen because of the standing relationship that already exists between LF and Cornell; the company previously held a trunk show this year with the sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi.
OK, so I know these two events are major, and you are now scrambling to pick out something cute to wear to both. Refer back to old posts, or, when in doubt, wear black (obv). Tickets for Wednesday’s event are available through Cornell’s ticket sales website, and tickets for the Saturday CFC show can be purchased through the CFC website, as well as from any member of the club. This is the week I’ve been waiting for, and I hope you choose to attend these shows, too. But, be warned, I will be in Anna Wintour-mode, with eyes fixed on the runway. Divert my attention and die. See y’all there!
OH! ONE MORE THING! Cornell’s only fashion mag, The Thread Magazine, is dropping its Spring/Summer issue towards the end of April (#AprilFashionWeek). I can attest to how completely amazing this student production will be; every single member of this team is übertalented. Check their Facebook Page (which you better have already liked) for updates on the release date; it’s literally Vogue September Issue-status, just, like … released in April.
Start bracing yourself for the fashionable free-for-all coming your way. There IS a higher power, after all!
Original Author: Meghan Flynn