The Model Experience Transforms NYFW

On September 12^th and 13^th, The Model Experience (TME) once again breaks barriers by celebrating inclusivity and diversity with various sizes, skin colors, genders, and backgrounds. TME brought models, designers, and artists together in one place to showcase their raw talent through the Fashion Week Festival. TME provides accessibility to all up-and-coming models, emerging designers, and artists to give them the opportunity to be a part of New York Fashion Week.

This year’s festivals included performances from BLXST, MYAAP, and Jeremih, to DJ sets from Soul-Rebel Marley, Nish, and Shaun Ross. It also included designers from Marta Ruiz, Villa Avenue, Kamoni, Vigilantt, and many more. The event also showcased panelists from Fashion Designer and CFDA member, Christian Siriano, to fashion designer, Christian Cowan. This unique setup bridges fashion and entertainment, creating an immersive experience that elevates the way fashion is experienced through a Coachella-type environment.

Merging both entertainment and fashion together is an ingenious idea that was created by the founder of TME, Ashley Covarrubias, whom I had the pleasure of speaking with in an interview, which can be seen below:

Style Cartel: What inspired you to start The Model Experience?

Ashley: “…I was dipping my feet into fashion, and I realized that there wasn’t a space for me. It was difficult for me to weasel my way into fashion weeks and the fashion industry alone. It used to be less inclusive, so over time, it has become more inclusive, but I think that’s where it started… I couldn’t get a seat at the table, so I had to make my own table, and that translates into the shows also…We work with models with all types of skin tones, backgrounds, sizes, and genders. We’re all about inclusivity, and that’s kind of where the inspiration started.”

Style Cartel: What would you say to models who are worried about AI taking over?

Ashley: “I think everyone is worried about AI taking over, not just models. It’s definitely relative, but you can’t compare the human touch. In the photo world, very likely. Why would you hire a model to wear your clothes if you could just push a button and there it is. But, I mean, it maybe doesn’t have the same fit. There’s sides to it. I think in the fashion show space, it’s a little trickier to replicate the human experience.”

Style Cartel: How would you define inclusivity in fashion?

Ashley: “I would say inclusivity in fashion to me is like going to a store and having multiple size ranges… It’s not just for one specific size. Like, I can think of a few brands where I go into the store and I’m like, wow, they don’t have past a certain [size]… I think inclusivity in fashion is the size range.”

Style Cartel: Where do you see The Model Experience going in the next 5 years?

Ashley: “I’d see us probably with a partnership with like Vogue. Probably getting more spotlight…I don’t know, maybe filling up these seats a little bit more. But I think that’s a really good question. I think we’ve had so many goals and we’ve met them, and so now we’re like, let’s re-group and see where we’re at. But, ya, bigger designer, working with bigger brands and getting like Prada and some other big brands..to do our show. I think that would be amazing.”