Almost exactly one year ago, I was sitting in the Barton Hall stands, excited to see my first fashion show (not counting the stylings of Miss Jay and the contestants on all billion seasons of America’s Next Top Model).

Assistant Daze Editor Cara Sprunk interned at Life & Style Weekly this past summer, and the experience gave her insight into the inner workings of the fashion industry. In her position with the beauty and editorial section, she sat right next to the fashion department and watched them at work — even observing their preparations for New York Fashion Week.

The amount of work that went into the production of runway — on both the fashion and journalism sides — fascinated her, and the summer experience sparked an even greater interest in the world of fashion.

For this week’s issue of Daze, Cara spent the last few weeks meeting with several key players in the Cornell Design League’s upcoming 25th anniversary show. She observed the preparations and creative processes of designers, as well as models and set engineers — all of the many types of people that it takes to put on a spectacular runway show. Read Cara’s feature to get a glipse into the lives of some very, very sleep-deprived people.

And in the spirit of avoiding schoolwork even further, check out a new Daze column, First Look, which will focus on entertainment and pop culture.

As always, be sure to send us your questions, comments, concerns and suggestions for the magazine at redletterdaze@cornellsun.com.

Stay fabulous,

Allie Perez