For anyone who didn’t already know, this past weekend was the annual Her Campus event College Fashion Week (CFW) in New York City. I was lucky enough to be one of the models walking down the runway this year, so I’m here to share my experience with everyone.
Over the summer, everyone involved in Her Campus received an email with the opportunity to enter to walk in the show on Sept. 30. When I decided to enter, I didn’t think I would ever get picked because I don’t look like most models. But I figured it was worth a try since I’d been much more interested in fashion lately.
Just a few weeks later I got an email with the subject line: “You’re a CFW Model!”
Pre-CFW
I was shocked, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I had never attended College Fashion Week before, so this was a whole new experience for me. In the weeks before the show, models had to send their measurements over to Corinne Hennessey, the fashion director.
Fast forward to the last Saturday of September, and I was on my way to Metropolitan West in NYC, the venue where the event took place. I met up with Mackenzie McCoy, another CFW model from Her Campus Montclair. After grabbing a cup of coffee at a cute little shop called The Jolly Goat, we were already walking to the venue before 8:30 a.m.
Our call time was so early because we had to try on all of our clothes, get our hair and makeup done and practice walking down the runway all before the show started at 6 p.m.
This year’s looks were sponsored by Primark, Avec Les Filles, Chaser, and Vici. I wore Primark, Avec Les Filles, and Chaser outfits, while other girls had different combinations. We were all surprised at the end of the night when we found out we could take home one of our outfits (as long as it wasn’t our Primark look).
Bed Head by TIGI was nice enough to style our hair, and they gave me a beautiful mermaid look by enhancing my natural curls and braiding a few pieces. They wanted to make sure that we had easy and wearable hairstyles that normal college students can do, which I thought was a brilliant idea. There’s no need for us to have unrealistic looks when we’re just college students trying to have fun!
We have Ulta Beauty and IT Cosmetics to thank for our amazing makeup looks that lasted throughout the entire night. Each girl was given a look that was perfect for them, whether it meant neutral eyes or a dark red lip.
Those lovely hair and beauty brands even gave us a bunch of products to take home with us. They weren’t the only companies that gave us awesome prizes though – POPSUGAR, StudentUniverse, Spindrift, Boxed Water, Sweet Thangs Cafe and Acuvue all gave us goodies!
Once our hair and makeup was done, it was time to get dressed in our first outfit so we could each have a mini photo shoot. It was such an amazing experience to have a photographer only focusing on you. I can’t wait to see the pictures!
Showtime!
Once the doors opened up to the public, the excitement backstage couldn’t be contained. Everyone was dancing, singing, and taking pictures with each other. We went out on the floor to say hello to friends and collect our goodie bags, but then we had to start lining up behind the curtain.
The show opened up with an amazing performance by Trinidad Cardona, and then all of the sudden it was time for us to actually walk the runway!
All I have to say about walking down the runway is that it was an AMAZING experience that went by much faster than I thought it would. Strutting out there to fun music with my Her Campus Montclair team cheering me on was a feeling like no other.
It’s so important for real college students to be able to have opportunities like this because the world tells us that we have to look a certain way in order to be a model in a fashion show. I never thought I would be able to do this in a million years, but Her Campus understands what college women deal with.
I highly suggest that anyone who has the opportunity to participate in College Fashion Week does it – you’ll enjoy every minute of it, whether it’s by attending or walking down the runway as a model.