During this year’s New York Fashion Week, Baruch College students from the Black and Latino Studies Department, WBMB, SEEK, and UMLA came and shut it down at a collaboration event with fashion week platform Art Hearts Fashion.
With the help and guidance of Professor Shirley Reynozo, an adjunct faculty member in the Black and Latino Studies Department, the students were able to meet face to face with their potential future.
Reynozo, also known as DJ Moya Rey, is more than just an educator. She’s multidisciplinary with experience in fashion journalism, DJing, photography, singing and songwriting. This Brooklyn-based artist made a name for herself within the fashion industry and took it upon herself to give her students an experience they won’t forget.
“The fact that I was able to open the doors for anyone who wanted to participate felt like a really rewarding experience to extend that to them,” Reynozo said. In the fashion world, connections are everything. With Reynozo’s invite, these students were able to attend the Art Hearts Fashion show and put their networking skills into practice.
Art Hearts Fashion is the leading platform dedicated to showcasing the latest up and coming designers at the forefront of fashion week.
Its coast-to-coast events — New York, Los Angeles and Miami — bring together the most eminent designers and viewers from all over the world to witness these innovations on the runway. It was founded in 2010 and have been a driving force for fashion ever since. Celebrities like Nick Cannon, Britney Spears and Steve Madden attended this fashion phenomenon and had coverage by some of the most prestigious platforms like Vogue and MTV.
“My experience in the NYFW was absolutely the best thing ever, and I would really like to thank Professor Reynozo for the opportunity and inviting us to the event,” Jamil Lawal, one of Reynozo’s students, said. “I was able to meet and interact with so many people and build my connections… It was an amazing and unforgettable experience.”
Being in a space where multiple people are successfully doing what they dreamed about is monumental. It gave hope and confidence to students who may have doubted their abilities or even the career field they chose.
“I really love it, it’s definitely a once in a lifetime experience and if I can go, I’ll go again,” Chloe Weng, another student Reynozo invited to attend, said. “Being there makes me want to expand my circle to have more opportunities like that.”
It’s easy for students to be discouraged by not knowing their next steps, especially after finishing their college years. These students were able to be a part of an event that not many young people, let alone students, get the chance to attend.
Moments like these inspire and motivate students to work harder to achieve their goals, so that they can grant these same possibilities to their future mentees someday.
Check out more from the show at artheartsfashion.com and its Instagram.
