FADS Expo showcases creativity through student passion projects
The Fashion and Design Society Expo on Saturday started off with a fashion show, where models rocked student-created brands and labels. The clothing and accessories worn by the models represent passion projects launched at different points in students’ lives. Leonardo Eriman | Asst. Video Editor
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When Jack Wren attended his first Fashion and Design Society Expo to show off his hat brand Happy Duck Co., it introduced him to a space he didn’t know existed in Syracuse — a space filled with students designing brands, running businesses and turning their passions into side hustles.
Wren’s also a Syracuse University hockey player, and his brand is geared toward athletes. The expo introduced him to other student business owners who share a similar drive and passion for their businesses, he said.
“Being brought together and being able to see these people here, networking, hearing what has worked and hasn’t worked for them, it’s been a really interesting success story,” Wren said.
At the FADS Expo on Saturday, students showcased their passion projects and collaborated with one another as both business owners and creatives. Pop-up shops, featuring clothing brands, accessory collections and student publications, lined the hallways of SU’s Shaffer Art Building. The event kicked off with a fashion show, giving models an opportunity to sport outfits created by student-led labels.
The clothing and accessories worn by the models represent passion projects launched at different points in students’ lives. This semester, Aidan Turner started his newest brand, Solace Collective, a clothing line catered to people who are neurodivergent. Jonathan Carter, a fourth year architecture student, launched Selfloved Creatives during his senior year of high school, and sophomore Zoe Hammond began her jewelry business, MadeByZoe, when she was in ninth grade.
Turner, a fifth year architecture student, juggles owning two clothing brands along with helping to lead FADS as its vice president. He used his business experience to plan FADS’ second annual spring exposition over the course of the last few months.
Just as designing a building requires attention to elements like entryways, circulation and structure, planning an event involves similar considerations — figuring out where to get tables, clothing racks and other essentials.
It’s like solving a design problem for Turner. Though he’s graduating, he hopes FADS continues the expos in the future as an annual tradition.
“It’ll almost be my legacy with FADS,” Turner said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to get out there.”
On Saturday, students at the Fashion and Design Society Expo showcased their passion projects and collaborated on ideas and business practices. Models walked in a fashion show, sporting outfits created by student brands such as Solace Collective and Happy Duck Co. Leonardo Eriman | Asst. Video Editor
In addition to selling their products, students walked from table to table, asking each other about their products and sharing their work. For budding business owners and new publications, the expo created opportunities to get the word out about their work.
FUSION, a new graduate student magazine focusing on the African diaspora, is set to release its first print copy this spring. The expo, its first collaboration with FADS, was an opportunity to spread the word about the new publication.
Some students experienced firsts at the expo. For sophomore Vivian Baltzer, the show was an opportunity to emerge from working behind the scenes in FADS to strutting down the aisle among the crowd of students. She was clad in gold jewelry from MadebyZoe for her first modeling gig for FADS.
The models wore an eclectic mix of pieces. Some offered a laid-back look with sweatsuits, updos and neutral hues. Others kept it more professional, wearing classy heels, black ties and formal blazers.
Carter emphasized how rewarding it’s been to connect with other creatives on campus. His brand focuses on comfort, featuring sweatshirts with matching bottoms, as well as more niche pieces that explore cultural and societal themes of race in America.
“It’s really been nice to not just sell, but connect with other creatives and people that I haven’t been able to meet on campus before,” Carter said. “Sometimes, I get stuck in my major a lot.”
Turner emphasized joy and purpose as the driving forces behind the event. The event wasn’t about competition, but rather a way for creatives to connect and build each other up.
“It’s all about using our creativity to help other people,” Turner said. “A lot of our passion projects are here.”
