On a cleverly devised, candlelit catwalk that highlighted the venue’s adaptability, models displayed more than 60 unique pieces, each one imagined, designed, and created by students in the program’s Fashion Design & Merchandising 1 and 2 and Theater Costume Design classes.
Durango High School's 'Garden of Lights' Fashion Show, held December 12, 2024, at the Impact Career Innovation Center, featured the work of dozens of student designers. (Photo courtesy of Aidan Riley)
Held each spring and fall, the event gives Fashion Design students a chance to engage in the design cycle and showcase their work to the community – while also serving as a culminating project for their portfolios.
Students handled every detail of the fashion show, from set design and audiovisuals to ticket sales and teardown. DHS Senior Hailey Simon served as showrunner, producing the event as her Portrait of a Graduate Capstone Project, a program-ending culmination of learning that impacts the community and helps prepare students for their future.
“It has been really great to be on the other side of things and to see what it’s like to put a program together versus just modeling or designing in it,” Simon said as she introduced the event. “It’s a nice experience to showcase all of the hard work that everyone has been putting in all semester long.”