Selling youth to old people

My observations during fashion week have brought me to the conclusion that people in New York assume fashion is for the 30-and-over crowd. Actually, this observation about the fashion industry has always troubled me. I try to have a casual conversation and it turns into work. I find myself doing an interview or making a connection to find a job. \nI have worked in Chicago and New York and I have noticed there is a lack of the 18 to 21 crowd at the fashion shows, especially in New York. I did run into some guys my age who build sets for Playboy, but I don't know if that counts.\nIn the tents at the shows there are only, "I-have-been-doing-this-too-long" editors, snotty PR assistants and really old socialites wearing bad lipstick and clothes. When the liquor starts flowing the only people I have to talk to are editors, writers and wannabe designers. I am not saying this is a bad thing, but spending 90 percent of my time around these people can be stifling. \nI find it a little ironic that the people who buy most of these clothes aren't at the shows. In the words of hip-hop group The Diplomats, "What's really good?" \nAs much as I knock some of the fashions at IU, I also recognize good fashion statements. I see you uptown girls with your Burberry coats, bags and shoes. I also notice the blue jean mini skirts that line the sidewalks outside of the Main Library. IU was mentioned in Women's Wear Daily as one of the most fashionable colleges, so why don't they beg us to come? Let's face it, Louis Vuitton is the handbag god at this school. \nThe truth be told, we are the people that make labels like Baby Phat, BCBG, Club Monaco and Rocawear popular, yet the only time the designers pay attention to us is in the ads. College students are the life-force behind most designer lines. So why aren't we filling up seats at the shows? \nIt's like opera: the older people give sponsorship and, of course, they have older friends. Therefore, what they want, they get. Fashion is not opera. Fashion is something that changes with the times, and it is also a part of our conspicuous consumption, as written by Thorstein Veblen, a great economist, in Theory of the Leisure Class. College students use fashion for everything. We use fashion to upstage competition, impress potential employers and, of course, get booty. We should be in those seats, because, inevitably, we decide what is hot and what's not. \nWhen it comes to Fashion Design students, the best way to learn anything is from experience. Before I came to school here, I was working with an IU fashion design student in the Chicago shows. She is now working in New York. The fashion industry is based on connections and a little talent. You have to know people. New York is the fashion capital of the United States, and simply put, they hire who they know. Occasionally, IU sends about 10-15 students to New York, but sadly they could not make it this season. IU has to represent. We may be in "fly over country," but it didn't stop our fashion design program from being praised in the May first issue of WWD. \nIn February, during fashion week, we should make a point to crash every after-party. We should be decked out in BCBG, Burberry from head-to-toe, and soaked in Givenchy perfume. We should no longer be ignored when it comes to fashion, and instead of using us in their ads to sell youth to old people and a lifestyle to college students, they should respect us enough to invite us to their shows. We are one of the most fashionable schools in the nation; we should be there.