April 27, 2022 – Seniors from the Marist College Fashion Program promoted sustainability and environmental awareness in on campus events to celebrate Earth Day. Sustainability is a core principle of Marist’s Fashion Program and Capstone Seniors highlighted design concepts with that in mind last week.

On Thursday, the Ethereal Exhibit featured a gallery highlighting sustainable design in the fashion industry from designers at the forefront including Stella McCartney, Gabriela Hearst, Mara Hoffman, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Patrick Cupid. 

The exhibit was a semester Capstone Project by Fashion Merchandising Seniors Molly Griffin, Grace Grinko, Katie Pfaff, Sam Powers and Eliza Rotante, assisted by Director John Bartlett and Professor Jamie Ross. Numerous high-end designers, local Hudson Valley designers as well as alumni were featured in the Gallery. The students chose the theme Ethereal to “Bring light to Sustainability in the fashion industry by displaying innovative and timeless sustainable pieces from eco-minded designers.” 

Jamie Ross, Marist Visiting Teaching Associate of Fashion, says the goal with both these events was to create incubator environments for our Senior Capstone students. 

*Note, please click on the "i" icon on the bottom right-hand corner for captions of each image.
Gallery photos by Andrew Mark and courtesy of Fashion Program. Conference photos by Zachary Gawron

“Not only were these students able to flex the skills they had learned over the course of their Marist studies, but they also curated these amazing projects in real time with industry partners,” said Ross. “From the start, their intention was to welcome sustainably like-minded students from other institutions to be a part of the discovery and conversations. They will leave behind Best Practice Guides for future Marist Fashion Program students. We hope these events will be the first of many more student led Gallery Exhibits and Conferences based around timely topics,” she said.

On Friday, the Sustainable and Innovation Fashion Conference at the Nelly Goletti Theater featured Miss Earth, along with executives from Ralph Lauren and Eileen Fisher, Marist alum Cara Benevenia, author Joshua Katcher and more. 

“Sustainability is an important tenet in the Fashion Program,” said Marist Fashion Program Director John Bartlett. “Both the Ethereal Gallery exhibit and the Sustainability and Innovation Conference speak to the Marist students’ commitment to this pillar. I am thrilled with the level of excellence both in design and in talent that we were able to showcase over the past week’s events. And I encourage everyone to visit the Steel Plant Gallery to see the unique composition of sustainable work,” he said.

The Conference was established this semester as a Senior Capstone Project by students Gabriella Soto, Alexis Carey, Isabella Parmeter and Haley Todd. Featuring Director Bartlett, executives from numerous high-end designers such as Ralph Lauren and Eileen Fisher appeared as panelists, along with Marist alum Cara Benevenia, author Joshua Katcher, P.J. Smith and Tina Bhojwani. The purpose of the Conference was to “Bring light to Sustainability in the fashion industry by discussing prevalent topics: Textiles & Innovation, Environment & Consumerism and Luxury Business & Sustainability.” 

The Fashion Program at Marist, within the School of Communication and the Arts, prepares its students to enter the world of fashion and pursue careers in merchandising, planning, product development, retailing, operations, fashion promotion, event production, and a gamut of other employment opportunities. Students gain the skills, knowledge and experiences within an encouraging academic environment to help them flourish in the fashion industry.

Learn More About Marist's Fashion Program