Collaboration is key this semester as Mills College’s MBA Marketing class and Underground Runway, a fashion and culture consultant company based in Oakland, present The Collection: For the Town. The fashion show will focus on the underrepresented and often-overlooked diversity within the local community of artists, designers, musicians, and creatives in general, the collaboration ties into a celebration of community.
Hazel Streete, a current Mills MBA student and Mills undergraduate alumna, is the publicity chair for the event. Streete has always been interested in fundraising and she plans to continue pursuing her newfound interest in marketing.
“Underground Runway is all about collaboration, as we include submissions from local artists and invite key community members,” she said.
Significant portions of the event’s earnings will go to Mills College, as well as to the Martin Luthar King Jr. Freedom Center, Streete said.
Tiffany Stewart, the creative director and fashion stylist for the show emphasized the collaborative nature of the project.
“We’re all a resource to each other. We can make it together,” she said.
A sense of encouragement and support exudes from the primary organizers of The Collection: For the Town, especially Streete and Stewart.
Stewart said she is optimistic about the outlook of young creatives in the Bay Area.
“You might have talent right here you haven’t even looked at,” she said. “Oakland just promotes your creativity, It’s my inspiration.”
Since moving to Oakland six years ago, Stewart hasn’t looked back, fully immersing herself in the ever expanding excitement that surrounds her fashion consultant job.
The genuine interest and passion of Streete and Stewart in their respective fields exemplifies what can come to fruition through their collaboration.The event is not only about fashion, but culture, promoting emerging artists and inviting art students from all over the Bay Area to participate. With the focus on local and emerging artists, anyone can submit art work for the show via ugrw1213@gmail.com, and students are highly encouraged to enter submissions.
Everyone is invited to come celebrate and partake in The Collection: For the Town Friday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. with a reception in the Littlefield Concert Hall foyer and the presentation of the fashion show in the Greek Amphithetre behind Littlefield Concert Hall. Admission is $5 for students, $15 for general admission, $20 for VIP front row seats. For more information check out: http://forthetown.eventbrite.com
