Partida plans to study marketing after graduating this year, a path she began considering after seeing firsthand how fashion, branding, and large-scale events come together. Experiences like Fashion Week El Paseo, she says, help students imagine what might be possible for their futures.
“It’s a really good opportunity for students because it opens your eyes to different careers,” she notes. “Not just modeling, but everything behind the scenes. You see all the different jobs — like camera crews, stylists, and makeup artists — not just the models.”
Schnitzer typically sponsors student attendance on the same night that highlights student designers, whose work he says often rivals that of established designers. This year, Istituto Marangoni Miami will present the collections of more than 25 couture design students at the #We Say, Moda! show on Tuesday, March 17.
Whether those students go on to become household names isn’t the point. The creativity and discipline required to produce those collections, Schnitzer believes, will serve them in any path they choose.
“The most important thing is that it sparks a sense of wonder, excitement, and hope,” he says. “While most of us won’t end up as artists in a museum or designing clothes for a fashion show, there’s creativity in all of us.”
