Where Sustainability Meets Style

Every year, students of Lynn University’s fashion and retail program partake in a life-altering experience on campus through the annual Lynn Fashion Showcase, a dazzling display of stylish pieces that highlights the students’ and faculty’s distinctive creativity and trend-setting skills.

Scheduled for Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Eugene M. and Christine E. Lynn Library, attendees can anticipate a stunning exhibition of innovative outfits and accessories, ranging from swimwear to elegant evening gowns and cutting-edge streetwear fashion.

Dating back to the 1980s, the Lynn Fashion Showcase has remained one of the college’s signature projects. Over time, it has evolved into a campus-wide collaboration that attracts fashion lovers from all over South Florida.

While the showcase has had different focuses over the years (it was themed “The Evolution of Expression” in 2023 and “The Faces of Fashion Showcase” in 2022), this time, it spotlights sustainability.

“Every designer featured in the 2024 Fashion Showcase practices sustainability with regard to manufacturing or in their daily business operations,” says Lisa Benedict, fashion and retail professor at Lynn University.

Students are tasked with transforming discarded materials into stylish, eco-conscious garments to promote the importance of reusing post-consumer textiles to create new clothing.

“Our mission is to reduce waste, conserve resources, and redefine fashion through innovation and responsibility,” states a press release. By doing so, the showcase aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), an initiative started in 2015 related to industry, innovation and infrastructure, responsible consumption and production and climate action.

The Lynn Fashion Showcase is more than just a project. According to the school’s website, it provides practical experience for fashion students, teaching them essential skills for their future careers, including problem-solving, creative thinking and stepping out of their comfort zones.

“This event provides experimental learning for the students, as well as it incorporates collaborations with many divisions within the university,” says Benedict, 53, referring to how the showcase is a collaboration between Lynn’s College of Business Management and the Christine E. Lynn College of Communication and Design.

As part of the event, models will strut down the runway exhibiting jaw-dropping looks from designers like Amanda Perna, Jamie Banks, Sara Mique, Joan Laminoca, Desirae Allen and Elio Rojas.

“It’s so important to give back and help the next generation of fashion,” says designer Perna in a story published by Lynn University’s magazine earlier this week. “It’s so wonderful to learn things in school, but graduating with real-world experience will help the students go even further, and I am honored to be a small part of their journey.”

When asked to articulate the feeling of seeing her creations on the runway, she says, “There are no words to describe it. I think the closest would probably be ‘magical.’ Seeing something come to life after it only existed in your head is surreal.”

The Lynn Fashion Showcase takes place at the Eugene M. and Christine E. Lynn Library, at 3601 N. Military Trail in Boca Raton on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.

For more information, visit lynn.edu/lynn-fashion-showcase.