By Samantha Vega-Torres – Features Editor

The spring runway show returns to the Athletic Center this May, and senior fashion design students are excited for an in-person show and to see their designs come to fruition on the runway. 

Nicolas Brown has been working on his collection, “Egregore,” since the summer after his junior year. He split seven pieces between fall and spring, focusing on no more than two looks at once.

“I really like the eldritch and the weir so I was drawing a lot of inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft. My first goal was that I wanted something couture and really abstract shapes,” said Brown. “Each look represents a different social or environmental issue to bring awareness to it. I’m creating like an action sheet with different articles, resources…that someone can read about and actually donate to.”

Brown, who was originally going to be a student at Mount Ida before the institution closed, entered his first year at Lasell without any design experience. He built his technique and skill set for the next two years when the COVID-19 pandemic cut his sophomore year short. 

Brown took a break, teaching art at a summer camp before returning to campus his junior year. “That was when I really blossomed as a designer…I really started going full force, going 110% and then led to senior year,” said Brown. 

Brown plans to move to Waltham after graduation while working on a commission for Candace Persuasian, who performed at the Campus Activities Board (CAB)’s drag show a few weeks back. He is working on the commission with Dylan Alves (‘20). 

“I’m going to hopefully be doing more commissions for local drag queens and working for performers in the queer community. It’s been my dream since I was a little gay, watching “Drag Race,”” said Brown, who will be exploring opportunities before considering going to grad school for his MFA in fashion design for the future, where he aims for a shot at New York.

Jaqueline Cordeiro is also considering getting her MBA in fashion. 

“I do think I want to work in different fields of fashion. I’ve worked in prom stuff, I’ve worked in visual merchandising, I’ve worked as a sales associate. I want to take a gap year from school and go to grad school the year after,” said Cordeiro.

Cordeiro’s collection “Imperfeições” is inspired by her culture. She was born on Graciosa Island in Azores, Portugal. Imperfeições means imperfections in Portuguese.

“I wanted to bring that element into it and I was also inspired by the fear of perfectionism. I feel like it’s something very present in our generation and especially my personal life,” said Cordeiro.

Cordeiro also came up with her collection over the summer after junior year, enlisting the help of her roommates to narrow down which of her 100 sketches made it into the collection.  

“It’s been very rewarding to see every single part of the process, because I was not only the designer, I was the stitcher, and the marketing, and the videographer, and photographer. So I got to play a lot of different roles. I learned a lot in the process,” said Cordeiro. 

Catheleen Veiga, whose collection is called “Ba-Djuda,” is inspired by her Cape Verdean culture. Veiga shared her advice on those soon to start their senior collections.

“I think my biggest advice is to take your time and don’t rush it. If you need to take a break, take a break. Just know it’s fine to change your collection midway through the semester. It’s a process and there will be ups and downs. You just need to take your time on it,” said Veiga. “Like Professor Blake says, never walk backwards, it’s always forwards. If you’re stuck on something, put it aside and go to another one. Just being positive throughout the whole process.”

Fashion Design Program Chair, Professor Lynn Blake shared thoughts on these design students.
“Their individual creativity has been strong and unique. Designers were fully engaged throughout the year-long process demonstrated by submitting high-quality work on time, and they are truly kind, caring, and collaborative people – which is so important for our world and inspiring for me to experience,” said Blake.

These designers and more will be showcasing their designs on May 7 at 7 p.m., tickets are available online now starting at $27.