Through Art Hearts Fashion, first-year in the College of Communication Esperanza Molina Rodriguez-Lepina attended and assisted at New York Fashion Week from Feb. 3-9.
New York Fashion Week is one of the “big four” international fashion weeks, and Art Hearts Fashion is a platform dedicated to bringing innovative designers and artists to the forefront of fashion week, according to their website. According to Forbes, this year’s show included over 300 designers from 50 countries who showcased their Spring/Summer 2025 collection.
Esperanza spoke with the Marquette Wire about her experience assisting at New York Fashion Week, her passion for fashion and goals for the future.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
How were you able to attend New York Fashion Week?
I really love fashion, and I’m actually looking for a job related to marketing and advertising in the fashion world. I started asking around on campus and David Hanneken [professor in the College of Communication] connected me with some people who work in the fashion world.
Then a model sent me different associations that did shows for Fashion Week and connected me through that. I started reaching out to a lot of people — some of them required an application, and others they didn’t. I picked my favorite [Art Hearts Fashion] and volunteered with them for the whole week.
Take us through that week. What did it look like?
I got to New York on Monday [Feb. 3]. I didn’t help that day since I just got there, but on Tuesday, I was mainly sitting backstage and setting everything up. We were preparing makeup, skin care and gift bags. On Wednesday we set up the whole beauty room — we had tables, mirrors, lighting and the steaming all done.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the shows. I was assigned to one or two designers per day, and had to be there for them with anything they needed. I was mostly steaming the clothes, styling the outfits, getting the models changed or helping with hair and makeup. A few of the times I was backstage doing social media. For that I was in charge of recording and taking pictures for designers’ social media accounts and posting on them.
What designers did you work for?
I worked with a lot, but my favorite was Carlos Pineda. I’ve followed him for a long time because I love his designs — and I was so happy that I met him. He is just a great person to work with. A few of my other favorites were Glaudi, Mister Triple X, Bad Pink and Raúl Peñaranda.
Where did you get your passion for fashion?
I’ve always drawn since I was a little kid, and I would always play “Top Model.” In it, you would have a model and could create her clothes, which I really loved doing. When I was 17, during the summer, my parents signed me up for fashion designer classes. I learned how to do fashion design patterns, and I really, really loved it.
That following year was Covid. So, I would start creating my own clothes and I realized that I really, really liked it. I decided that I wanted to create a brand where I could post on my design. I started my brand [“Zephyritis”] with an Instagram but wanted to make it bigger. So, I created my web page and TikTok account. Right now, it’s a hobby, because I still have to graduate, but I would love to continue to do that in the future as a job.
Where does your design inspiration come from?
I get asked this question a lot, but I don’t have an inspiration — the ideas just come to my head. I see a fabric, picture an outfit in my head and make the design. Or maybe I see something but have ideas on how I would change it, then I create that. The ideas just come to my head and I make them. I really like Dior in general; but, I don’t think it’s like my style of clothing — It’s similar though, and I just really love their brand.
What potential events do you have coming up?
Right now, I am working with the Center for Peacemaking on a potential collaboration with ReWearIt MU. Last year, people gave used clothing that they didn’t want anymore and those who attended could come get it for free. I actually was able to get really, really great things. We have a few ideas in mind right now but will share it once we have confirmation.
Art Hearts Fashion is also doing LA Fashion Week, and if everything goes right, I would love to attend and volunteer again in March.
You can see more of Esperanza’s work on her website or Instagram. You can also watch her exclusive backstage videos from New York Fashion Week on TikTok. For more information on the potential collaboration with ReWearIt, follow their Instagram here.
This story was written by Sophie Goldstein. She can be reached at sophie.goldstein@marquette.edu.
