After a long day of learning and test-taking, the hallways of Tompkins High School are filled with an empty silence, other than the occasional sounds coming from the music rooms. Different clubs are working at different paces to meet their goals and criteria for the year, each focusing on their own events. However, there is one room in the school whose working and planning can be felt from a mile away. The Fashion Club is hard at work, discussing their ideas for the upcoming fashion show in the spring. Among the members, senior Daniela Guevara, one third of the club’s president trio, is listening intently to the bursts of ideas her members are coming up with in order to make the most important event of the club’s year successful.
“The Fashion Club mostly spends the year planning for the fashion show,” said Guevara. “It is an event that we have been planning since the first semester, and it is our main goal this year.”
The Fashion Club opened last year during the second semester, with the help of the club sponsor, teacher Jane Hargis. Because of the last minute set-up, the fashion show was more of an experiment and test run for the members. However, this year they are more prepared.
“Besides the members that are already in the club, we prepare for the show by recruiting
students that go to our school, and these people can be designers or models for the event,” said Guevara. “The student designers sew and style their outfits, and the models model for each designer.”
The club is open to collaborations with local boutiques for the event, such as their collaboration with Banana Republic last year. Guevara also managed to collaborate with the Muslim Student Association of Tompkins last year, in which a ‘cultural walk’ took place during the show. Fashion is not always about the glitz and glam, it is a part of a person’s identity and has always played a major role in cultures, such as the traditional kimono in Japan or the famous traditional Adelita dress of Jalisco, Mexico. This cultural walk consisted of diverse models such as Chinese, Filipino, Pakistani and Indian girls. The showcase portrayed the different styles and traditional wear in the different cultures that were presented.
“We wanted to showcase the beautiful cultures because Tompkins is so diverse,” said Guevara.
Although having success in the runway this year is the main focus, it is not the only thing the group works on. The club is sponsored by the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, or FIDM, in Los Angeles, California, which covers everything about the fashion world. Because of this, the club does other activities that deal with style, clothing and business in the industry. Partnering with the school has also proven to be a benefit for the members.
“The three presidents of the club, myself included, all applied to FIDM in Los Angeles, and they can provide scholarships for us,” said Guevara.
In addition, the club also strives to break the stereotypes of fashion and pursue the idea that fashion is a part of a person’s identity, and how it can portray the strengths, as well as weaknesses, of a person. Guevara is not afraid to experiment with outfits and describes her style of wearing masculine clothing and making it more feminine as a part of who she is. A big inspiration that plays into her style is Elaine Welteroth, a former Teen Vogue editor in chief.
“She turned a fashion magazine that used to only talk about makeup and clothes into one that also tackles political issues and feminism,” said Guevara. “If I can find a way to combine feminism and fashion, then that would be my dream job.”
The fashion show will be in the PAC and will take place on Wednesday, April 4. The club presidents are as follows: Daniela Guevara, senior Dominique Sharifi, and senior Andrea Pulgar. Junior Samantha Soto, vice president, junior Jodi Morawiec, secretary, sophomore Aleezé Qamar, treasurer, and seniors Keeny Ndoudi and Sarah Tahmasebi are the club coordinators.
