There are many fashion shows in Columbus, Ohio; the largest one is produced by Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD). This fashion show is put on every spring and features the designs of some of their students to raise money for student scholarships. Seniors will spend their entire senior year focusing on creating pieces for the show. This program allows students to showcase their creations and get an in into the fashion industry. The fashion show in Columbus, Ohio was recently acknowledged as the number one fashion show in Columbus’ by CityScene magazine in one of their articles.
This fashion show in Columbus, Ohio has been going on for decades now. This show occurs once a year in the spring. For the 2020 CCAD Fashion Show there were 14 designers. For the student to be featured their collection has to be approved by a group of Columbus’ top industry professionals. This helps to make sure that the pieces featured are among the best. Each year the number of designers changes because the show features the top student designers in the school. As well, all of the models featured are CCAD students. There were roughly 10 sponsors (for the 2020 show) and about 20 people on the Host Committee. Overall, this fashion show helps students get noticed by big designers.
The fashion show is run by Suzanne Cotton, who is the Chair of Fashion Design and Professor at CCAD. She studied at Parsons School of Design in NYC and received her MS in Marketing and Communication from Franklin University. She also has a small bespoke dress design business. Cotton got into the fashion industry when she joined CCAD. When she first began working at CCAD the fashion show was much smaller, but after years of hard work she has helped it grow. She works with many students and staff to create this amazing fashion show in Columbus, Ohio. She enjoys the fashion industry very much and especially loves walking the stage at the end of the fashion shows.
Columbus, Ohio is ranked number three in the amount of resident fashion designers. New York and Los Angeles are the two cities that rank above Columbus. According to Columbus Monthly, “It boasts a younger population-including 140,000 college students-that helps foster a newfound entrepreneurial spirit”. Columbus, Ohio is bustling with fashion and life and has many good fashion programs for students. Major retailers have their headquarters located in Columbus Ohio. For example Express, Abercrombie and Fitch, DSW and L Brand all have headquarters in Columbus. This makes it so Columbus, Ohio is one of the major centers (in the United States) for fashion.
However, while this busy city is full of fashion and eager students, the COVID-19 crisis has still affected them. The 2020 College of Art & Design fashion show was changed to an online format due to the pandemic. Currently in Columbus there are almost 7,000 cases and the Columbus Public Health is closely monitoring the cases. As well, the unemployment rate in the city has gone up a tremendous amount.
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