By Mylie Norton, Staff Writer
Junior fashion merchandising majors, Samantha Scarlotos and Lindsey Pelletier run the fashion industry at Long Island University.
Scarlotos works for the Student Body Collective and has applied her expertise to high end brands Versace and Supima, two luxury clothing brands with much anticipated fashion shows in the New York area.
“Most of the time we’re helping backstage, dressing models, we’re moving stuff around and setting up the chairs, making sure the models are lined up in the right spots. It’s a really strict schedule so it’s kind of chaotic the whole time but it is really fun to be behind the scenes,” Scarlotos said.
It takes a lot to put on a show that only lasts eight to ten minutes but Scarloto explains that her dreams and aspirations are to someday run her own luxury fashion shows.
“It would be nice to eventually work for a luxury brand and kind of put on these sorts of shows. Getting to pick out what works best, be a buyer for them and figure out what the best looks for that season or company would be,” Scarlotos explained.
The experience of being a fashion merchandising student has given both girls the chance to explore different brands and events in order to eventually reach their career goal of working in the industry.
Lindsey Pelletier is well versed in the fashion industry, especially at Long Island University. She is the President of the Fashion Merchandising Club and Co-president of the Student Body Collective, two student-run organizations that share ideas surrounding trending fashion.
Pelletier has worked on plenty of shows as well, gaining experience with brands: Tear, Versace, Lafayette 148, Max Mara, hiTechMODA and Supima. Similar to Scarlotos, Pelletier has been able to assist models or stylists backstage, steam clothing items and organize the set up routine.
“I worked with a brand a couple weeks ago, called Supima, they do a fashion design contest and for this one I was able to work at one of their fittings to help see what that process was like. So I had to help the models get dressed but then also prepare stuff for the show such as gift bags and other items that the production team needed help with,” Pelletier said.
Both Scarlotos and Pelletier have ample experience assisting at high end fashion shows so they are hosting their very own through the Student Body Collective (SBC) at Long Island University.
The event was on Friday Sept. 20 at LIU Post campus on the Great Lawn. This season’s show is tying together fashion and athletics. Many of Long Island University student athletes will be modeling in the show.
“Fashion and sports are like a joint force at the moment, it’s a really hot topic. We wanted to do a joint show with the LIU athletics department so what we did was we had our theme based upon clothes that athletes would wear, like their street style or before and after a game,” Pelletier stated.
There are several committees focused on finding student athlete models and getting them fitted into the SBC clothes for the show. Then the models will be put together and staged for the show.
“Another big part of it is that we make sure that we’re not doing this just for it to be fun and cool, but that our proceeds do go back to a good cause,” Pelletier said.
The proceeds coming from raffle tickets will be going towards the Fashion Foundation which is a nonprofit organization that ensures recyclable fashion and charity. These proceeds come from students who attend the show and purchase a raffle ticket as well as local businesses that give donations to be raffled.
Scarlotos and Pelletier, with the help from their peers in the Student Body Collective, are planning another LIU fashion show in April.
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