Runway Rehearsals to Real-World Experience: LIM Students Take February NYFW

This February, our students were everywhere. Rehearsing runway formations alongside production legends, steaming gowns minutes before showtime, sourcing flowers for pre-show brunches, organizing garment racks backstage, capturing behind-the-scenes content, and, yes, walking in heels to help perfect the grand finale.

Here’s how LIM showed up this season.

The Michael Kors Effect

If there was one common thread this Fashion Week, it was this: Michael Kors.

More than 60 LIM students participated in runway rehearsals for the Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2026 show, acting as stand-ins so the production team could perfect timing, lighting, pacing, music cues, and camera angles.

Fashion Management and Leadership student, Audrianna Melkonian, kicked off her week at Fashion for Futures: Michael Kors & Bureau Betak, walking rehearsals alongside industry professionals.

“I helped smooth out timing, music, and pacing alongside Michael Kors and the production team,” she shared.

Grad student, Elizabeth Sethi, majoring in Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management, described the experience as a full run-through of the show. Students walked the entire runway to help determine how models should move and how the grand finale would unfold. Critical details that shape what audiences ultimately see.

Fashion Merchandising major, Daniella Valecillos, was one of the students selected as a stand-in. “We got to help the models study the runway formations,” she explained, contributing to the precision that makes a show seamless.

Fashion Marketing student, Alina Joy, echoed the intensity of the moment. “We acted as the models and walked the runway with the music,” she said. “On the second day, we walked for Michael Kors himself!”

And for Fashion Merchandising student, Maal Augustavè, the experience came with personality.

After serving as a two-day stand-in at the Michael Kors show, he mastered walking fast in heels while learning firsthand just how tightly choreographed a luxury runway truly is; from pacing and formations to the precision behind every finale moment.

Bronx and Banco: Brunches, Backstage, and Beyond

At Bronx and Banco, LIM students experienced Fashion Week from multiple angles.

Daniella Valecillos balanced her time between Michael Kors rehearsals and assisting Bronx and Banco’s team. She ran last-minute errands sourcing flowers for table arrangements, delivering brunch essentials to Serafina, and picking up garments for guests. She also served as the brunch supervisor’s assistant on show day, helping to set the tone before the runway lights even came on.

Fashion Merchandising student, Amora Isonguyo, worked behind the scenes organizing and packaging model outfits ahead of show day. When the moment arrived, she dressed models and captured behind-the-scenes media — blending styling, logistics, and content creation into one fast-paced experience.

Designer Spotlight: Esé Azénabor and Flying Solo

For several students, NYFW meant working directly with independent designers.

Fashion Marketing student, Laura Yissell Canela, assisted at Esé Azénabor’s runway show, supporting setup, dressing models, transporting the collection to the venue, steaming garments, and preparing the showroom alongside the designer herself.

Fashion Merchandising major, Kenzie Barratt also worked the Esé Azénabor show, contributing to the backstage momentum that keeps a production moving.

Meanwhile, Audrianna Melkonian continued her week volunteering backstage with Flying Solo, organizing racks, steaming looks, and assisting with dressing. After meeting designers, staff, and fellow volunteers, she left not only with hands-on experience but meaningful industry connections.

Art Hearts Fashion & NYC Energy

At Art Hearts Fashion, hosted at the historic Angel Orensanz Foundation, Fashion Merchandising student, Maal Augustavè attended shows featuring looks that ranged from “dressed to slay” to “feminine chic on steroids.” He also caught the SFW runway show, where streetwear met unmistakable NYC energy.

For Maal, Fashion Week was equal parts observation and aspiration, learning from the industry while imagining what his own future role might look like.

Beyond the Spotlight

If Fashion Week looks effortless from the outside, this season proved just how much precision lives behind that illusion.

It wasn’t just about celebrity sightings or runway moments. It was about pacing cues. Racks organized by look number. Flower deliveries. Steamers. Run-of-show spreadsheets. Last-minute errands across the city.

For LIM students, these weren’t just tasks; they were responsibilities. They saw how creative vision becomes an executable strategy, how designers rely on teams, and how every detail, no matter how small, shapes the final moment on the runway.

Whether they were rehearsing for Michael Kors, prepping a designer showroom, dressing models at showtime, or organizing brunch tables hours before guests arrived, our students experienced Fashion Week the way professionals do: hands-on, fast-moving, and deeply collaborative.

And just like that, another season wrapped.

See you in September.