Humber Fashion Students and Alumni Celebrate Career and Cultural Diversity
By Izzybea Miller
Each year, Humber Fashion Arts and Business students craft a compelling night that showcases their creative talents and ability to create an impactful event.
Due to the current remote delivery of most courses, the fashion event planning students learned to adapt their skills to the online virtual event space.
On November 24, the students hosted La Vie Est Belle: Fashion Around the World Alumni Night.
The tone was set by captivating catwalk visuals from runways all around the world.
Then, we were greeted by the event host, Devina Hiraman, who doubled as the project manager. Devina began with a land acknowledgement and thanked sponsors - Revampery, Amins Collective and Youth Association for Mental Health (YAMH).
Alumna Autumn-Leeh Saunders, the owner of Tall Birches, shared the importance of having interpersonal skills and the ability to stay true to ourselves as entrepreneurs making our way into the industry. "Just to be your true self is the best interpersonal skill you can develop if you're going into the fashion industry. Just be yourself and know who you are,” she said.
She discussed the experience of launching her business amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and advised to take risks. She acknowledged that local support has helped her succeed as a small business owner.
Keeping with the idea of Canadian-made fashion, we transitioned to the next guest with runway visuals from Vancouver designer Evan Ducharme’s 2016 collection, ORIGIN.
We also welcomed Cassandra Kenzora associate store director at Gucci. She shared the necessary elements for a professional and organized resume and what major retailers are looking for when they hire new employees.
Guests also had the chance to experience empowering fashion visuals from Africa, showcasing designers Quinteria & George, Vernac, Khosi Knosi, Trebene and Craig Port.
The third and final alumni guest of the night was Ariana Popat of Harry Rosen's eCommerce and showroom. She discussed how COVID-19 restrictions affected her work environment and how to prioritize safety and face these complications.
Ariana emphasized the demand for e-commerce, as the pandemic has skyrocketed online shopping.
Her advice was to pursue internships to gain experience and build strong connections and told us that one of the biggest challenges she faces is self-doubt. Then she gave us tips on how to be more confident and go after what we want. The final fashion show display celebrated the cultures and fashion of Asia with runway footage from the 2019 Face of Asia Model Festival.
To incorporate an interactive element to the event, host Devina moderated a question-and-answer session with the panel.
Afterwards, a friendly game of fashion trivia was played. Congratulations to Isidora Perisic who received a virtual tour of the Met fashion exhibit, About time; Fashion and Duration.
We would like to thank everyone who attended La Vie Est Belle: Fashion Around the World Alumni Night and to everyone who worked hard to behind the scenes to create an alumni night to be remembered.
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