Student-led fashion show transforms Soundstage A into a surreal production

On March 21, Ringling College’s Soundstage A was transformed into something between a theater and a dream. Rock-lined runways planted with uplit ornamental grasses and a towering LED screen set the stage for two packed performances of what has quietly become one of the most ambitious student-produced events on campus.

Now in its third iteration, GENESIS is a student-led fashion show and cross-disciplinary collaboration that draws from virtually every major on campus. This year’s show, Woven in Time, followed a soul’s journey through three acts: Birth, Battle, and The Unknown, guided by the mythological Fates. The theme shaped everything from the garments on the runway to the motion graphics pulsing behind them to the dress code for guests.

“I was drawn to the contrast between love and hate, the softness and the hardness of those images, and how that reflects the battles humans face today—personally and on a global scale,” said Lindelwa Ntshakala ’28, Visual Studies, and this year’s GENESIS President and Creative Director.

“Bringing the Fates into the story introduced an existential crisis, because it links to the idea that we’re all born into something we didn’t choose.”

Twenty-one designers presented 30 original garments, each the result of months of experimentation, sewing, fittings, refinement, and more sewing. 

Outside the venue, guests were welcomed with a photo booth, live caricature artists, and GENESIS-branded swag before making their way inside to a show that opened with booming narration guiding the audience into the world of the Fates.

The production was entirely student-built. Motion design students created the visuals projected across the LED wall. Set design, sound, hair and makeup, photography, and film documentation were each led by a dedicated student department head. Lily Bean ’26, Visual Studies, Head of Designers, described their role as part creative collaborator, part coordinator, working with each designer to tailor their looks to the theme while managing fittings and keeping communication flowing between teams.

“It’s really cool to see all the looks and talk to everybody during the process,” Bean said.

This year also saw a new layer of support added to the production. Matt Myers, who teaches costume construction in Entertainment Design, led a workshop for GENESIS designers, not on design itself, but on the practical challenge of getting from sketch to garment. “There’s a lot of creativity not just in the design, but in the fabrication,” Myers noted. “And those are actually two very different jobs professionally.” For students working without a fashion major to draw from, that kind of hands-on guidance made a real difference.

Central to that process was a new resource that didn’t exist in previous years: a sewing lab in Hammond Studios. For GENESIS designers, the space became a second home—a place to work through construction challenges, test materials, and turn their sketches into reality. Myers had been working toward something like this for years, advocating for a dedicated fabrication space on campus long before one existed. The opening of Hammond Studios made it possible. “The building opening opened a door to having this space,” he said. 

GENESIS grew out of an earlier student fashion show called Fresco and has expanded year over year in scale, production value, and campus reach. This year’s leadership team logged close to a year and a half of planning by the time of the event. 

GENESIS 2026 — Core Team
Lindelwa Ntshakala — President & Creative Director
Timo Kisyeri — Vice President & Brand Executive
Amanda Godines — Vice President & Project Manager
Mobtagha Bejaoui — Co-Creative Director
Samantha Balikowa — Outreach Coordinator
Tia Kassim — Lead Set Designer
Lily Bean — Head of Designers
Abigail Atwell — Head of Motion Design
Martina Belanche Castillo — Head of Graphic Design
Allegra Bortoni — Head of Film
Savannah Carroll — Head of Photography
Meline Dupont — Head of Hair & Makeup
Lyra Kolesar — Head of Models
Jetta Gerdts — Head of Models
Zeta Bengoechea — Campaign Strategist

For those who were there, the result spoke for itself: a runway show that felt less like a student event and more like a fully realized production, the kind that leaves you wondering what they’ll do next year.

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