University Fashion Group

Day 1: THURSDAY, FEB 6

I flew with my three friends Kemi, Alyssa, and JJ, from Austin to Queens, NY. After four flight delays, we checked into our hotel in Chelsea and had dinner near Times Square. We spontaneously decided to go out for drinks afterward. Many texts and recommendations from New York City locals later, we ended up in a quaint, low-profile bar named “The Tippler.” Of course, we had to try “My Girlfriend Lives in Queens.”

Day 2: FRIDAY, FEB 7

The really cool thing about going to New York with UFG was that I was able to help out with fashion week and tour some potential law schools, two birds with one stone. Friday morning, Alyssa and I woke up, got on the subway to Tribeca, and began looking at law schools. Afterward, we spent hours and hours shopping in SoCo at stores like Uniqlo, Billionaire Boys Club, and numerous thrift stores and ate a cute sushi shop for lunch called Blue Ribbon Sushi, where I totally spent $50 on 3 rolls. However, at some point throughout the trip, I was going to have pasta, so we went to Little Italy and had dinner at a place called Aunt Jake’s. We ended the night visiting childhood friends in Brooklyn.

Day 3: SATURDAY, FEB 8

On Saturday, I had another free day that I chose to spend eating more food, visiting museums, and doing karaoke with my friends. For lunch, I waited an hour to eat a prosciutto grilled cheese sandwich at a restaurant called Citizens of Chelsea. I’m not embarrassed to say that the wait was worth it. Afterward, we visited a new museum called Fotografiska, where we saw the Thinking Like A Mountain, Inheritance, and FotografiskaForLifeXTIME exhibits. On the way to the museum, Alyssa and I bumped into Instagram influences Qjin and Qwon! After Malaysian cuisine, we headed to a karaoke bar in Brooklyn called Alligator Lounge.

Day 4: SUNDAY, FEB 9

While other students’ schedule for fashion week was more sporadic, all of the shows I worked fell on the last two days of my trip. The first show I worked, Nicole Miller, was unlike anything I had ever done before. I was assigned to the back of house, meaning I was in charge of dressing models. Initially, I was nervous; I had no experience in fashion and didn’t want to do anything wrong to mess up the look the stylist had in mind for the models. But lo and behold, the models were angels. I apologized in advance to one of the models I dressed, Thais, explaining that I had never worked a show, but she kindly told me that everything would be perfectly fine. For most of the models, it was their first season, and for some, Nicole Miller was the biggest show they had been a part of. 

Immediately after Nicole Miller ended at 5, I rushed to my next show, Chromat, that I needed to be at by 5:30. For Chromat, I guided guests to the performative show that showcased their models in athletic clothing, completing various workouts from squat exercises to dance routines. Luckily, workers were allowed to check all-inclusive show, which featured all different body types- a huge relief to see at something like New York Fashion Week. 

Day 5: MONDAY, FEB 10

The last day! I had to arrive at Just In XX, my last show, at 8AM. For this show, I worked in the front of house, guiding guests to their seats, setting up the show, organizing seating, making goodie bags, and was eventually allowed to sit in the audience once the show started (huge plus!). The set-up was a little hectic as we rushed to finish setting up before all of the guests arrived, but I think that added more to my experience. Immediately after we were done with the show, we went to the hotel to grab our things and headed for the airport.