The Fashion Club is fairly new to John Cabot University, having been founded in Fall 2015. While it is young, it is producing some pretty wonderful talent. Appealing to many members of the JCU community, the Fashion Club shows off its creative side with amazing photo shoots, workshops, trips, events, and guest speakers.
Bethany Anne Miller, vice-president of the club, explains, “We want everyone to get involved and feel like they can create. It's not just about an Instagram photo or a new profile picture; it's about personal expression and showing off skill and talent.”
“We have lots of passion to evolve the club into more,” Jan-Michael Putter, president of the Fashion Club, notes. “We are only now just getting started – we have finally kicked into gear and started moving forward as a club.” The Fashion Club has already brought many new initiatives to the JCU events calendar, like guest speaker Carol de Leon, CEO of Flogg Footwear, who gave a fascinating talk earlier this semester. “Having someone like Ms. de Leon talk with us was a pleasure,” Bethany comments. “Our club members loved hearing real-life experience of the fashion and design world, and she had the most amazing stories about her success.”
But Jan-Michael has more plans in store for the club: “Our long-term goals are to help set up internships with various fashion outlets, both local and big companies. We want to leave our mark; leave a legacy. Being in Italy, we also get various opportunities that we cannot get in America. For example, our trip this weekend to the Fendi headquarters here in Rome. It gives us a chance to really see the roots of such a powerhouse company. Italy is known for its fashion, so this gives us an upper hand as the Fashion Club.”
“We are in such an inspiring city, fashionable too, and it's hard not to feel the passion in the air and use a little of it for yourself,” Bethany says. The Fashion Club's president and vice-president both agree that JCU’s Rome-based campus inspires the students to get more involved. “When it comes to what the club members bring to the table, since every person is different, they bring in fresh ideas that board members had not thought of, or not thought of for a while. It’s a new look into events and activities, ideas for shoots, or suggestions as a whole. It's very hands-on,” says Jan-Michael.
“We do photo shoots to create portfolios,” he continues. “It is important that we take each role seriously. The photographer, make up and hair stylist, creative directors, models. . . it's all important.” The club has started to become known for its work and its ability to really pull in and include the JCU community, expanding photo shoots and other interesting events to appeal to the creative students here at John Cabot. Bethany says, “Sometimes it’s even an opportunity to create a collection of photographs to promote something, like a shoot we began and intend to continue: the Power of Color. I came up with this idea to show off JCU’s diversity, to promote our strengths and connections to each other. It was amazing to see my idea come to life. We’ve had ten students involved so far in the shoot and we’ve created some amazing artworks. We hope to give support to all those who have great ideas but need a team to help them.”
Check out the Fashion Club on Facebook and Instagram to see more of their works!
