This year’s New York Fashion Week has passed, but it remains in the memories of these three Howard University students as they reflect on the opportunity to experience the fashion spectacle.
New York Fashion Week, which ran from Thursday, Sept. 10 to Tuesday, Sept. 15, had students planning as early as the spring and scouring social media for opportunities. They found community in the fast-paced environment and had the opportunity to watch designers’ collections come down the runway or even style a model themselves.
Keymani Fuller, a junior fashion design major from New York City, has attended fashion week since her freshman year, but this year, she said she planned on working there. After applying for an internship with the Bureau Fashion Show, she earned her spot behind the curtain.
“We’re working with over 100 people at a time, so you have to learn how to manage stress. Because, at the end of the day, you’re here to help the designers and you’re here to help the models,” Fuller said.
Other responsibilities Fuller had included checking in models and guests as well as helping designers set up to ensure that the show went smoothly.
Another student, Chandaniey Boyce, experienced New York Fashion Week differently. She sat in the audience and watched the shows, describing them as beautiful and full of great craftsmanship.
Boyce is a junior fashion design major from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. After scrolling on Instagram, she found a program, the Harlem’s Fashion Row HBCU Fashion Forum, which was collaborating with Target, and decided to apply.
“We were there to experience and network. There’s a lot of big names that we could connect with and talk to. That was really nice,” Boyce said.
Part of a semester-long cohort, Boyce explained that the cohort was tasked with creating a case study and will return to New York in December to present it. She also attended shows for Harlem’s Fashion Row.
Boyce said that when watching the shows, the collection that most caught her eye was from the brand Atelier Ndigo, founded by Waina Chancy. The 2027 spring season collection was Bleue Digo, and it won the inaugural $100,000 PVH Foundation Runway Ahead Prize in partnership with ICON360.
As fashion designers, students get the chance to network with fashion industry professionals.
Alongside networking, they share spaces with other fashion-forward influences, including inc Harlem’s Fashion Row awarded fashion content creator and model Wisdom Kaye, fashion designer Brandon Blackwood, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, designer and podcaster Recho Omondi and stylist and former creative director of Fenty Beauty Jahleel Weever.
Dorian Jones, a junior advertising major from Sacramento, California, had the opportunity to style a model for Indigenous New York Fashion Week and said he appreciated working on a show that uplifted Indigenous culture through the patterns, prints and themes he saw.
“A lot of my inspiration is centered around my Blackness, so going into a completely different environment I felt like it was really refreshing to be able to see fashion through the lens of a completely different culture,” Jones said.
Other students agreed that getting involved on Howard’s campus through fashion organizations and working on shows around school has helped them learn how to carry themselves in these spaces. Fuller, a member of the modeling organization on campus, Models of the Mecca, said she’s found her community with them.
“I feel that has helped me gain my confidence and gain my light,” Fuller said.
Boyce said that through the fashion department’s internship practicum, she got experience backstage, but with Harlem’s Fashion Row she could see how it all came together on stage. A key part of getting this experience, she said, was “putting myself out there.”
“People don’t know what you can do until you show them,” Boyce said.
Fuller, Boyce and Jordan all emphasized the importance of remaining authentic and being prepared while pursuing their goals.
“You want your portfolio to say, ‘this is who you’re hiring.’ Your personal style in it, your personal taste, your awards and achievements. Always make sure you’re being you and putting you out into the world,” Fuller said.
Copy edited by Daryl R. Thomas Jr.