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Albright College Fashion Professionals Return to NYFW

by Albright College

Sep 01, 2022

As the sole undergraduate college whose students and alumni unveiled designs on New York Fashion Week runways last year, Albright College will return to showcase eight more student and alumni fashion collections on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., on this year’s 5th Ave runway, 608 Fifth Avenue at 49th Street, New York City.

Produced by Albright alumnus R. Scott French ’87 of VERY New York, and boasting a crew of more than 50 Albright students, the show features fashion designs by Albright alumni current Albright students. Follow along on social media via #albrightNYFW.

Albright New York Fashion Week (NYFW) designers:

Olivia Connor ’18, of Baltimore, Md., developed an interest in fashion illustration early in life. Despite arriving at Albright without formal sewing experience, Conner excelled and credits her professors, friends, family and her late mother for their support and guidance in earning her degree in Fashion Design.

Na’Yalaijah Fournillier ’22, of Philadelphia, Pa., studied fashion design at Albright and spent this past summer working at Paula Hian designs where she assists the designer in creating her own fabric and custom dresses. For NYFW, she marries her love of painting with her love of streetwear for a unique creative expression of fashion.

Camille Fuller ’17, of Sussex, N.J., an Albright fashion design and merchandising graduate specializes in sustainable design with a particular emphasis on natural dyeing techniques. For her fashion label, Anchourage, Fuller produces small batch pieces made with natural fabrics and dyes. She earned certification as a Sustainable Design Entrepreneur from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Nicholas Kedge ’22, of Centreville, Va., was born in Bogota, Colombia. Studying fashion design at Albright College, Kedge has always been keenly tuned into the world around him and interprets details into every garment he is inspired to design. He strives to transform the basic shapes of the body and clothing silhouettes into designs that feel organic and fluid.

Sarah Kim ’24, of Ligonier, Pa., is studying fashion: costume design at Albright College with a primary focus on garment construction for period and theatrical costumes. Sarah hopes to design and create theater costumes for a range of performance types in the years to come.

Jonathan Otero ’20, of Lancaster, Pa., is an all-around creative individual, incessantly finding new ways to design garments that he finds innovative and meaningful. After graduating from Albright College in with a degree in fashion design, he became a pattern maker at Curtain Call and the sewing floor coordinator at Stitch Fix. He has a wide range of creative and technical fashion industry knowledge.

Liz Polley ’07, an Albright fashion and theatre graduate, recently returned to her alma mater as an assistant professor of theatre. Polley earned a Master of Fine Arts in costume design and technology and worked as costume shop manager and adjunct professor for Kean University. Polley has worked at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, South Texas College, the Phoenix Theatre Company, the Shakespeare Theatre, the Glimmerglass Festival and Surflight Theatre. Highlights from Liz’s professional wardrobe career include the concerts of Taylor Swift, Pink, Justin Bieber, Paula Abdul and Ariana Grande. She has also been integral to national tours for “Kinky Boots,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Jersey Boys,” “Spamalot,” “West Side Story,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cats” and “Ragtime.”

Jennifer Raineri ’17, of Smithtown, N.Y., earned her Bachelor of Arts in costume design from Albright before completing a Master of Fine Arts degree in costume design and production at the University of Alabama. Having designed and draped for a multitude of plays, Raineri is particularly fond of recreating historical patterns as inspirations for her modern designs.

Albright College fashion graduates work around the world as designers, celebrity stylists, influencers, production executives and more. Their employers include Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Swarovski Crystal, to name a few. Many have gone on to start their own thriving businesses.

Named a top national college by Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, Albright College (founded 1856) is home to a diverse community of learners who cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience. Through learning experiences that engage a student’s creative and innovative capacities across all disciplines, both inside and outside of the classroom, an Albright College education guarantees that each student learns how to engage the world, understand the world, and is prepared to make an impact on a rapidly changing world. Located in Reading, Pa., Albright is home to undergraduate students, adult learners and graduate students.

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