A University of Maryland Fashion Week is in the Works

The University of Maryland is getting its own Fashion Week. Similar to the likes of Paris
or New York Fashion Week, a club called Masterpiece is attempting to emulate these events this
spring.
The University of Maryland has never had a strictly fashion-oriented club. Two aspiring
designers, Fei Mancho and Brittany McCoy, founded Masterpiece in the spring of 2014.
Although UMD has a plethora of creative clubs, such as The Collective, Masterpiece is the first
of its kind.
The idea of a campus wide Fashion Week originated during a normal club meeting for
Masterpiece. Mancho and McCoy told Masterpieces members that the clubs ultimate goal is to
host a Fashion Week type of event.
Recently Washington, D.C. held its own Fashion Week, which inspired both founders to
create their own at UMD.
Club members sat in the Margaret Brent Room of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union,
ready to hear more. Members were excited about the idea of a Fashion Week on a campus that
did not previously have a fashion-oriented club.
Although the event is still in its early stage of development, different ideas were thrown
around during the meeting. From a do-it-yourself seminar to an introductory sewing event, club
members want to include as many interactive opportunities for students as possible.
The club worries about the male students on campus dismissing the event because it is
fashion oriented, so to combat this they decided to devote a day just for male students to interact
with different aspects of fasgion. This event will include a networking opportunity from young

men entrepreneurs, and a workshop to help male students transition from being students to being
professionals.
All of these proposals were taken into consideration as Vice President of marketing, Oru
Wonondi, typed them up on her laptop.
Masterpiece decided that it would host four different events during UMD Fashion Week,
which will culminate in a fashion show at the end of the week. Masterpiece will ask various
locally based aspiring fashion designers, including Masterpieces own, to showcase their spring
2016 lines at the show.
Wonondi, Mancho and McCoy all have their own respective clothing companies, and
confirmed that they will be among the designers at the fashion show. Wonondi runs and owns
Nova Apparel, Mancho owns Fancy Muffin, and McCoy owns and runs her clothing company
called Dynasty by Brittany.
Masterpiece plans to have the four events on Mckeldin Mall and the Adele H. Stamp
student union, while the fashion show will be held at the Samuel Riggs Alumni Center. UMD
Fashion Week will be held next semester, from March 28 to April 1.