This past Friday, the Cornell Fashion Collective hosted their annual fall fashion show, this time diverging from their regularly scheduled venues and choosing to spotlight their designers at Llenroc. Once housing the Delta Phi fraternity, Llenroc was also home to Ezra Cornell –– the historic manor drips in ornate crowning and opulent design much like the models bustling to get ready down below.
A creaky wooden staircase leads you down to a brick-walled basement overflowing with creativity. Rooms shoot off each other, each one packed with models and designers preparing their looks. The long wooden tables are piled high with makeup, mirrors and water bottles; some models sit dressed head-to-toe in their looks while others lounge in sweatsuits. Each person is as different as the design they don or created.
Upstairs a similar scene is set: rooms once inhabited by fraternity brothers are now overtaken by the fashion collective. Models are snacking on Goldfish as their designers consult with each other about a certain accessory being needed or not or whether this makeup touch is too much or just right. Flash bulbs pop constantly in the back of everyone’s vision as the photographers gear up to get their perfect shot. The swarm of black fabric is constant as E-Board members direct members and press. The controlled chaos is a sight to behold, each person has a specific role that never falters.
Designers hurry to finish their final touches, whether that means steaming their skirt or sewing on minor details, everyone is preparing for the show to begin. Finally, the time strikes 8 p.m., the doors have closed and the show has begun. Sophia Peck ’26, CFC president, and Dani Mendell ’28, CFC creative director, introduce the show. Reverie is this semester’s theme; the pieces are meant to invoke a feeling of childhood memory, “an outward expression of the mind's departure into madness” as Mendell puts it. Designed by levels two through four, the Cornell Fashion Collectives Fall 2025 show commences.
The models descend the deep oak staircase like royals entering a ball. While there is no verbal announcement for each design, the dedication shown through each piece enraptures the attention of each attendee. The models glide throughout the house, stopping every so often for a pose to allow the onlookers to marvel at the creation on their bodies. As the models slowly stalk throughout the house, there is an air of mesmerization, of reverence.
Each design is unique, but some held a greater impact than others. Luis Chavarin ’28 created a piece called “Reverie of an Impure Martyr,” a story and fashion piece “of an individual whose purity was stolen by those around them in a religious context.” The whiteness of the dress represents purity while the upside down crosses are copper to represent the tarnishing of purity. His design encapsulates the inner turmoil felt when a person doesn’t find themselves represented within the religion assigned to them.
Another designer, Kiran Agarwal ’28, individually frayed each piece of fabric to create the soft material of her corset top, while also hand-dying and pleating the matching skirt. The hair accessory that the model wore pinned into her buns was composed of over 100 hand-cut flowers strung together on a string. Each designer put immense time and effort into their creations, pushing themselves to their creative limits.
Cornell Fashion Collective prides itself on fostering a community of designers and creatives that both support and push each other to become the best versions of themselves. The camaraderie displayed between designers and models alike prove that CFC is creating just that, a community in which everyone knows that they have someone there to lend them a needle for a quick repair or a pack of Welch’s for a snack. These designers have made a home for themselves within a school that pushes for competition and it’s shown through each and every design that drifted down the runway this past weekend.
Eve Riskind is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at elr229@cornell.edu.
