Collections designed by students hit Jack Adams Hall’s makeshift runway on Wednesday, debuting a raucous catalogue of upcycled fall looks with the Fashion Network Association.
FNA has been quietly planning a runway event for the student fashion community. Co-Vice Presidents Carmyn Garcia and Nicholas Panameno had great ambitions for the show right off the bat. To them, greatness started with a centralized message of inclusion on the runway.
“We are open to everyone, it’s not just for fashion majors,” said Garcia, a third-year apparel design and merchandising student. “If you have a design and you want to show off your clothes, go ahead.”
Prior to the show, FNA president Edgar Hernandez greeted a room full of the show’s models with simultaneous camera instruction. He beamed with pride from the stage as he took on the role of master of ceremonies.
“I want two nasty poses and a strut back,” Hernandez said. “Thank you all so much for making my dream come true.”
Hernandez’s opening words spurred a round of applause across the room as attendees formed a lingering line at the entrance. As the crowd flooded in, the tension rose as media teams rushed around the room, eagerly waiting to capture the perfect shot.
The small hall on top of the Cesar Chavez Student Center let designers’ full spectrum of work shine, premiering their collections one model at a time. From punk-ish liberty spikes to electric blue Hawaiian shirts, all models took their own approach to the runway, but shared a love for the end-of-catwalk pose.
Models such as Sasha Onadja, a fourth-year broadcast and electronic communication arts student, felt her call to the runway to be a joyful fluke. Onadja rocked her roommate Mya Sweeney’s designs with poised professionalism.
“I modeled for our other roommate last year in the fashion show,” Onadja said. “I guess she saw something in me.”
Carly Noller, a fourth-year apparel design and merchandising student, gleefully bopped down the runway in a handmade polka-dotted playsuit. Her exceedingly large baby-blue ribbon flowed from her lapel as she modeled her own work.
“It took me a lot of hours to figure out what I wanted to do,” Noller said. “Making it for myself was so fulfilling. I love designing for myself, I’m kinda selfish.”
Noller was one of many designers who wore their own designs on the runway. As groups of models strutted to the stage to bow, their designers took solo bows, quietly claiming pride.
Panameno, a third-year apparel and design major, walked steadily in heavily-beaded heavenly white garb while clutching a rosary close to his chest. His model followed closely in contrasting black garments, adorned with a matching smokey beaded chest piece.
Panameno was far from the only designer experimenting on the runway. Second-year apparel design and merchandising student, Ximena Gonzalez, took the runway show as an opportunity to show her bold work for the first time. Going into her first show, Gonzalez leaned on some of her major fashion influences for inspiration.
“I’ve always been a big fan of alternative fashion,” Gonzalez said. “I took a lot of inspiration from Vivienne Westwood and the anime Nana and went down that route with my design.”
The wide range of designers showcased in FNA’s first show of the semester represented the diversity of the apparel design and merchandising department, one of many departments under the threat of downsizing. Garcia expressed her concern for a timely graduation in light of the department’s status.
“It is a bit stress inducing,” Garcia said. “We have limited classes and we need these classes to graduate and continue our learning, but we’re struggling to get in.”
The student collaboration dedicated to making this fall’s runway show made it shine brighter. As FNA raised funds for their Spring 2026 show through ticket sales, they uplifted a new generation of designers.
“At the end of the day, we’re all just creatives,” Garcia said.
