From April 4th to 6th, Lafayette and Marquette fashion classes joined to go on a field trip to New York. As a hub of fashion, there was no hesitation in choosing this destination for the trip.

Lafayette fashion teacher Erin Hagglund said, “New York is a fashion capital. I have traveled there before and taken the fashion tour through our tour company. It has a good mix of sightseeing opportunities in New York City in general but also [for] fashion.”

To Senior Daja Money, the New York trip brought her more than tourist enthusiasm. It was a special opportunity for her to explore future career options in the field of fashion.

“I decided to go to the New York trip because I’ve always wanted to go to New York trip since I was a kid, so being able to have that opportunity, I took it,” Money said.

The preparation process came easily to Hagglund, for the trip was a ritual done in the class every three to four years. This year, she worked with Junior Tours for the itinerary and reservations.

Hagglund was careful and selective during preparation in order to reflect all interests of her students. In the trip itinerary, she tried to include both sightseeing and career experiences.

“I thought that students were looking for a lot of different things [in the trip]. For some students, they had never traveled far from St. Louis, so to some of them, it was just a travel opportunity mixed in with fashion. For some students, they were really interested in the career of fashion, and New York is an excellent place to immerse yourself in that,” Hagglund said.

In New York, they toured famous landmarks such as Empire State Building, Times Square, 9/11 Memorial Museum, Central Park and Fifth Avenue, the fashion street of the City. On the other hand, the students also had first-hand fashion experiences as they visited Mood, the fabric factory, met with a local designer in the City and went to Fashion Institute of Technology, guided by Lafayette graduate Julianne Beffa.

Money noticed many different features from St. Louis. In New York, even the Burger King had a twist from typical fast food place in Midwest.

“Now, I know that Burger King in St. Louis is a regular restaurant, but in New York, it’s different. They actually have a menu. They come to you,” she said.

During their meeting with a local designer, Lafayette and Marquette students divided up into teams and competed for their design skills.

Money said, “I was the leader. We had three scenarios to do. The lady gave us a dress she designed and we had to find a different print to put on the bottom of the dress. However, we didn’t win that section, but we did win the next scenario, which was how we would accessorize the dress with the print we chose.”

Overall, the New York trip offered Money the insight into her future career. She wants to become a fashion designer in New York.

“I want to become a fashion designer, and New York is where I would actually like to start my business, so going down [there] to see how people acted, it was definitely a good experience,” Money said. “I think I would [start my career in New York] simply because it’s a lot of pedestrians and if they see my store, they would be able to walk into it. I feel like my business would become big right there.”