Feature Stories
Rockin’ the Runway
Teacher models and student designers are in fashion at CTE showcase
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Jonathan Fickies
Variations on a black-and-white theme.
Sandi Schwartz is an English teacher at Maxwell Career and Technical Education HS in Brooklyn. That is, when she’s not moonlighting as a model.
“I bought my first pair of heels in 15 years two days ago,” Schwartz said before Teachers Rock the Runway at UFT headquarters in Manhattan on May 31. “You’ll never see this again,” she laughed.
Student designers from programs at Maxwell, the HS of Art & Design and the HS of Fashion Industries presented their creations, designed for all body types, at the fashion show organized by the UFT that was the brainchild of Maxwell senior adviser Kendall Overton.
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Jonathan Fickies
Maxwell Career and Technical Education HS teacher Ronela Austin is stunning in stripes.
Students also modeled, as well as serving as support staff. “The majority of my 9th- and 10th- grade class is here tonight, doing makeup and hair, designing clothes, working security or doing photography,” said Schwartz, while students from Brooklyn’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism prepared and served food at a VIP reception.
Backstage, the action was frenzied: Maxwell senior Fatima Bah did a last-minute zipper realignment; Fashion Industries junior Ariana Billiard altered a hem; some models moved between makeup and hair stations while others just moved, expending nervous energy before facing an audience that included a Ralph Lauren scout.
The teacher models had taken lessons at Barbizon. “They taught me to do the walk,” Schwartz said, and she did it in a two-piece blouse and long skirt ensemble with a jewel-toned sash.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew lauded the amazing “creativity we see in each and every one of these schools.” It’s time, he said, “to show the country what New York City students are about, and that is creativity, passion and making their impact on our world.”
Angela King, a work-based learning coordinator at Fashion Industries in Manhattan, modeled a gown she loved from 11th-grader Anthony Castalon’s collection, a black bodice over a white skirt adorned with black flowers. “He is so good at what he does,” said King, who placed Castalon in a design house internship.
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Jonathan Fickies
Maxwell teacher Berthange René is ravishing in a red pantsuit.
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Jonathan Fickies
Teacher Rosa Chavez of the HS of Fashion Industries glides down the catwalk.
King explained the creative process: “They design a concept in their head, put it on paper, drape it or make a pattern, make a mock-up in muslin, and then they make it with the fashion fabric that will be worn.”
Alexandra Parisse and Karen Batts both worked in the fashion industry before becoming teachers at Fashion Industries. When asked to model, they grabbed the opportunity.
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Jonathan Fickies
A makeup artist puts the finishing touches on Maxwell teacher Albania Castillo.
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Jonathan Fickies
Maxwell teacher Meldryn Ortiz with her designer, senior Nyla Hunte.
“We had just had a runway show at our school and this designer had been my student as a 10th-grader,” said Parisse, wearing navy satin pants and a matching bustier embellished with lace and beading. “I said, ‘I want to wear that,’ so I kind of poached the garment.”
After seeing the work of designers who would be showing, Batts said, “I was in love with this look from one of my seniors” — a silk satin jumpsuit with sheer panels attached to each side — “so I was poaching, too.”
The designs by Billiard, the Fashion Industries student, were all accessorized with a crown. “I grew up in a neighborhood where there were Pakistanis and Indians and their weddings were extravagant; there was a lot of glitter and glam,” she explained. “I said, let me just put a little of that in this.”
Billiard wants to study in France, which she believes is the heart of the industry, because, she said, “you need to start at the heart to go anywhere.”