With a major in Integrated Marketing Communications and a minor in Education Studies, Chelsea Deegan ‘22 has enjoyed being a part of Ithaca College’s HiFashion Studios organization since her sophomore year. She was asked to join as a makeup artist by a friend, the co-executive of the hair and makeup team, because she was aware of Deegan’s beauty skills since makeup has been a passion of hers since she was 13 years old.
HiFashion Studios is a student-run organization with the purpose of bringing students from various majors on campus with a general interest in fashion to come together and put their creative minds to work. The organization consists of different departments: the creative team, the events team, the social media team, the design team, the hair and makeup team, the photo team and the wardrobe team.
“Throughout my years doing HiFashion, I have been able to see so many people come together to put on each amazing show. All of the members of the organization are so creative and hardworking. Each team is different in its own way; yet each is crucial for the success of HiFashion Studios,” said Emma Dolan ‘21, the president of HiFashion Studios, during the 2020/2021 academic year.
After weeks of brainstorming, working with each team and applying their creative skills, the student members come together to produces a runway fashion show each semester, along with multiple photoshoots in different locations. The final production is traditionally showcased in Emerson Suites, with approximately 350+ guests to attend the fashion show.
“I love being able to explore my creativity with the different themes we work with and being able to bounce ideas off of each other. I’ve grown so much as an artist since joining HiFashion.” said Chelsea Deegan.
Prior to COVID-19, HiFashion members would organize multiple fundraising events throughout each semester that would lead up to their final production of a fashion runway show. Fundraisers would include a weeklong schedule of professional headshots for students and a themed event that took place at a popular nighttime hangout spot in the Ithaca Commons where wristbands were sold. All these occasions took place in-person, so with the current state of the pandemic, there have been limited opportunities to schedule these types of occasions.
Chelsea remembers how the whole club used to gather in Textor Hall every Monday night for meetings that involved members of each team engaging with one another and discussing exciting new ideas that could be implemented into the show. Due to COVID-19, the weekly meetings have been held via Zoom, and it was noticeable how the lack of in-person contact resulted in limited opportunities to put heads together and conceptualize the same idea to showcase.
“I hope we use this time to really build a bigger social media presence for the club and engage with other IC students. I just want everyone to have an opportunity to tap into their creativity.” said Chelsea Deegan.
HiFashion Studios has been adjusting to this new virtual life along with everyone else, but it has not stopped the club’s creativity from being present on social media and planning COVID-safe photoshoots. Together the different teams have been coming up with ways to create tutorials for their online followers and get to show everyone what they can do at home and now back on campus.