Last week, a student fashion show that goes by the name of Design-a-thon was held in the Technology Building of Buffalo State University, sponsored by New Era Cap. In the midst I managed to get a lot of insight whilst admiring this creative project and great networking opportunity.
Design-a-thon was held for students in the fashion program. They were put into groups of three, consisting of two designers and a fashion merchandising student, to present their piece. Possibly a once-in-a-lifetime event, this is the first year Buffalo State University and New Era Cap have ever joined forces to work together to offer students a hands-on experience leading to endless opportunities for their futures in the fashion industry.
The competition challenge was to create an avant-garde piece over the weekend in 24 hours, of all New Era Cap sampled clothing, to be ready for the fashion show held on Sunday. This innovative process was to be awarded a cash prize and a paid internship to New Era Cap, a reward that would be presented to the group with the most on-brand piece and strategized pitch of their outfit.
Instructions were given to the participating students to create a piece of art rather than an outfit someone would actually wear, made to perfectly fit the mannequins provided by New Era Cap. The prestigious fashion show provided charcuterie snacks and beverages such as a coffee bar to the community attending the show. They also had a DJ to create an inviting vibe in the lobby of the Technology Building.
The event felt extremely well-planned and professional. There was also a New Era labeled photoshoot section with a professional photographer. This celebration offered a great way to reward the students for their hard work and to feel appreciation for their dedication to this project, no matter if they won the competition or not.
Moving onto the actual pieces, there were six groups of three, with the exception of one group that only had two people, meaning there were six avant-garde pieces displayed, to which each had their own vibe and story behind it.
The team that won had a piece that displayed an entire armory suit made out of the New Era caps. The team explained how the piece captured a woman soldier to honor Women’s History Month. This specific piece I thought was planned well marketing-wise as it consisted of entirely caps, which is the base of New Era’s entire brand. The reference to Women’s History Month was also effective in the way that it was impressive to show off the skills the students can bring to the table at their awarded New Era internship.
Another memorable piece was the one created by only two designers, who also won a cash prize for their ongoing theme of “disruptive”, displayed within their outfit and their attitudes towards creativity. This piece also was covered in New Era caps but had a wire coming in and out beneath the piece. The color scheme was black and silver with hints of red. The group decided to not only spray paint their outfit with silver, but also the mannequin. The spray paint really brought it all together.
Lastly, an outfit that caught my eye was a black and orange dress with a huge flower made out of New Era caps. My favorite part of the piece was the flower and the short length of the dress as it actually looked like something to be worn on the runway.
This fashion show displayed how clothing is a form of making art, and isn’t always treated as something to cover our bodies. It’s an expression of our creative identity as humans. Overall each student participating achieved something beyond the reward – the experience to have absolute creative freedom with endless quality clothing and caps.
The piece I admired the most reminded me of a sailor women’s outfit. They created a long skirt with a structure beneath it of New Era caps on the mannequin going up its legs, along with a brown long-sleeved shirt that had the same structure coming out of the sleeveless side of the caps. This piece was so carefully crafted and felt like something that would be in a museum. The caps were made to be like a wearable sculpture for the mannequin. There were so many little elements that you had to look for on this piece, the carefully placed New Era logos, the small bow in the front of striped canvas material. This piece will always be engraved into my head. As your eyes follow up the piece, it’s easy to notice and fall in love with a new detail.
“My team came together to curate an extremely beautiful art piece that was crafted from the thoughts in our minds and translated into clothing,” said team member Robby Motz. “It was a one of a kind experience that I would gladly do one thousand times over, as long as I get the same team”.
Overall, this group had only met the day they were assigned as a group and worked together allowing each other to have open visionary without any judgment towards creating art. The best part of the event was not only being in a space where fashion is the main subject to be admired, but also being in a community where people want to share along with supporting everyone’s gifted journeys. As an outside critic of the fashion program, it’s inspiring to see other students in creative programs be so willing to help and support their peers.
After the show, I appreciated the smallness of the event because of how special it felt to those who attended and got to experience the art that’s held here on this campus. Nonetheless, I would recommend this event and hope to join the fashion program again next year for the new participating designers. Fortunately, the student pieces were to be put in a glass case at New Era Cap, marking indefinitely this as the first year Design-a-thon occurred.
