The LSU Fashion Association provides opportunities for students in textiles, design and merchandising to gain experience and network. 

The organization competes in many different events around Baton Rouge and New Orleans, including Baton Rouge’s MODE Fashion Week, NOLA Fashion Week, 225 Magazine’s Avenue Rouge and Hemline for Hearts American Heart Association Red Dress competition.

Recently, textile, design and merchandising junior  Olivia Lapuyade won first place at the Hemline for Hearts event. 

Apparel design senior and president of the Fashion Association Camille Marcel said the competition is a fundraiser, where participants must construct a garment out of red paper hearts. 

“We submit a design based on their theme,” Marcel said. “This year, it was more futuristic.” 

While the club is open to anyone, members are mainly fashion majors. The group has monthly meetings, where they participate in activities or concentrate on different aspects of the fashion industry. In the past, they have held internship meetings where someone from the career center helps members build their resume. At their most recent meeting, they held a clothing swap.

Marcel said members enjoy bringing clothing they have worn or no longer want and switching with  people for different styles. In addition to the excitement of a free new outfit, members know they are being environmentally responsible. 

“It’s a way to be sustainable in fashion because you’re not buying something new,” Marcel said. 

The Association also invites local boutiques to hold presentations. This has allowed them to learn more about the merchandising side of fashion and help support local businesses.

But the Fashion Association’s main event is their annual fashion show. The show consists solely of student-made and designed clothes. There are five different categories to the fashion show. Sophomores can enter something they made in their sewing classes, juniors do three looks and have to have their own patterns and seniors do a full collection. There is also a freshman category for anyone who is not a fashion major but still wants to participate, and a styling category where people style clothes for a specific theme.

“We have prizes and there is a competition aspect, but it’s more like our way of having an art show,” Marcel said. “We can show what we’ve done all year and what we’ve done throughout our four years at LSU.”

This year, their 13th annual fashion show is being held May 13 in the Student Union. The theme is ‘2020 Vision,’ in honor of the new decade. 

Apparel design senior Sarah Nele said that the Fashion Association is more than just a club or a place to network– it is a place to form strong bonds with people who share a unique passion. 

“It’s also been a good support system alongside that because the people in the club are in the same boat as me,” Nele said. “We are all looking for the next step and we are all trying to figure it out together.”