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Fashion Alumni Show Collections at New York Fashion Week

Two recent fashion design alumni presented their work at the Designers’ Premier show at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) on Sept. 8. Keren Espina ’18 and Alexandra Pizzigoni ’18 opened the program, each showing five women’s wear looks. They were the only student collections in the show attended by fashion industry leaders, media and area fashionistas.

“This event is an amazing opportunity for students and recent grads to get exposure and recognition during one of fashion’s most important events of the year,” said Carly Kusy, fashion design instructor at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University). “Most designers only dream of showing during NYFW, so for designers so early in their career to do so, it’s really incredible.”

Both collections shown won awards at the University’s Annual Fashion Show in May.

In Pizzigoni’s “Memory Space,” luxe fabrics and unconventional materials informed this collection inspired by interior spaces and inanimate objects. She collaborated with textile design students Sivan Ilan and Regan Marriner on this collection. Pizzigoni currently works full time at the Children’s Place as an assistant footwear designer.

The biblical descriptions of heaven, celestial symbolism and textiles inspired Espina’s collection, “Revelations.” She collaborated with textile students Busola Duroshola, Elizabeth Nwosu and Regan Mariner. Espina just completed an internship with Global Brands Group in New York in women’s apparel design working on multiple brands, including Jones New York, Adrienne Vittadini, Liz Sport and Kenneth Cole.

Pizzigoni and Espina had some extra support cheering them on at the event. Fashion design and fashion merchandising and management sophomores attended the show as part of Jefferson’s New York Immersion course. Along with soaking in NYFW, they spent the weekend meeting with top industry professionals and visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fashion design and fashion merchandising and management sophomores attended the NYFW show.