This year’s University of Arizona Fashion Week was hosted by the UA TREND Fashion Events Board, a group centered around style, culture and art. TREND, a popular club on campus, brought fashion to the university through this year’s theme, which, according to the UAFW Instagram page, was Celebration: Arizona-Inspired Resort Wear that will “ […] produce designs rooted in rich desert landscapes bursting with colors that celebrate the unique energy of Tucson.”
The events included a percentage day and drink launch at Scented Leaf, a UAFW and UA Campus Closet collaboration featuring a green carpet mini show, a press conference and a student and small business market on the UA Mall. The event-filled week concluded with the UAFW main show on April 5.
One event that caught the attention of many was the UAFW and Poshmark pop-up on April 3 at the UA Mall. Held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the pop-up introduced students to Poshmark, a fashion resale marketplace that offers online shopping and selling, while empowering individuals to share their style with the world and earn money from their closets, according to the Poshmark website.
The pop-up “[…] introduced students to the process of reselling and finding a sustainable and beneficial way to get rid of unwanted clothing,” TREND Fashion Events Board Creative Director, Lauren Nachman, said. “The event had great attendance and participation, good vibes all around. People were very excited to set up Poshmark accounts and list their first item.”
As the creative director, Nachman played a key role in supporting the development of everyone involved in fashion week, providing both student and local creatives with a platform to showcase their work in a professional, highly produced show. “I was able to forge extremely meaningful connections with all of our talent, university faculty and community sponsorships,” Nachman said.
TREND Fashion Events Board President LuisPablo Padres also played a major role in UAFW and the Poshmark pop-up. A founding member of the Fashion Events Board, Padres has been involved with TREND since his freshman year. He went on to serve as the creative director of UAFW during his sophomore year and now holds the position of president.
“I was the person responsible for bringing it [TREND] back to campus after COVID,” Padres said. “So, as the ‘re-founder’ of this event, the overall highlight for me is seeing how much it has grown from 3 years back when I started it with nothing but a supportive team.”
Padres oversaw the Poshmark event and considered it a success overall. “While we didn’t meet our goal, we got close enough and we are happy to bring Poshmark awareness to campus, as well as encouraging students to give a chance to pre-loved clothing,” Padres said.
Sydney Sutton, TREND Fashion Events Board field director and member of the marketing team, also expressed pride in TREND’s work on UAFW this year.
“I found it so inspiring and exciting that our club was able to host such a high production fashion show here on campus,” Sutton said. “It set a great precedent for TREND to only build upon in the future.”
TREND continues to uphold fashion week’s mission of welcoming and celebrating diverse artists while highlighting their work.
“I am very proud of my team and how far we’ve come,” Padres said.
According to the College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences, UAFW creates opportunities to introduce emerging artists, established designers, photographers, models and more, to the university’s community. They state that “it’s more than just a fashion show: it’s a celebration of creativity, community, and the arts scene at [the university]!”
