Fashion students at PhilaU present designs on New York runway

Up and coming fashion design seniors make a showing at New York Fashion Week.
Up and coming fashion design seniors make a showing at New York Fashion Week. | Contributed photo
Cassie O’Toole and Sierra Rocco, seniors in fashion design at Philadelphia University, were recently featured at New York Fashion Week.

The Emerging Designers show took place at the Affinia Hotel, where O’Toole and Rocco watched models showcase their fashion designs on the runway in front of movers and shakers in the fashion industry. New York Fashion Week is one of the biggest events in the industry, meaning this was a very prestigious opportunity for the college seniors.

Rocco’s designs were inspired by 19th century prairie life, with distressed and embroidered fabric that had been hand dyed for a unique but wearable look. Textile design was contributed by grad students Ananya Bevinakatti and Sarah Mersky, as well as Brett Udovich, a recent graduate. They aided with textural yarns in earthen tones.

This team also assisted O’Toole in featuring a watercolor look, creating dresses in a combination of muted and bright tones to create a canvas. O’Toole collaborated with Mersky and Udovich for one-of-a-kind rich fabrics that created a particular texture unique to her collection.

Rocco said there were no words to describe what it was like to see her designs on the runway, and O’Toole was thrilled to have something different featured at the event.