Mules Take Manhattan
A student-run fashion show sparkled during New York Fashion Week
Less than a day before his debut fashion show was scheduled to start in an event space in Manhattan’s Garment District, designer Jack Richard ’25 was scrambling to finish accessorizing the collection in the Lyons Arts Lab workshop space on the third floor of the Runnals Building.
In some ways, it felt like a race against the clock. Would he be able to get himself and his “looks” to New York City with enough time to set up for the Monday evening show? Many of the 13 other Colby students helping make the show happen were already in New York City. “Dude, you gotta get here quick,” one told him Sunday afternoon.
Richard made it, arriving in the city just before dawn the morning of the show. He catnapped for a couple of hours before getting to work again, only stopping when he broke a cast-iron grommet press just before it was time to load his pieces into the Manhattan Mirage event space on West 37th Street.
And yet the show, the first collaboration between the Lyons Arts Lab and the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship and held during the hubbub of New York Fashion Week, sparkled.
It popped, fizzed, and overflowed with original music, modern dance, bespoke set design, and hand-drawn animation, all by Colby students. Richard’s upcycled denim creations for his collection, Richouthebox Presents GOOD VALUES, sourced from jeans he found at New England thrift stores, caused the audience of fashionistas and others to erupt in applause and jostle to take photos as the models strode down the runway.
“I was genuinely happy with the looks. I put a lot of effort into them, and it was exciting to hear that many people were impressed. It’s encouraging and fulfilling to hear that people want to buy them or schedule meetings for custom work,” Richard said.
“That night before the show, I’m not walking in Runnals, I’m running, like sprinting down the halls to get tasks done. Kind of in a flow state.”
Jack Richard ’25
Effervescence in the room
Fashion Week events held by well-known designers are usually exclusive and by invitation only. Richard’s show, which was promoted by NYFW Media as a free NYFW show, was different.
The room buzzed with dozens of vividly attired attendees and black-clad members of the organizing team and production company. Richard’s family members and President David A. Greene, who proudly wore clothes custom-made by the student designer, were joined by Colby Trustee John Lyons ’85, founder of the Lyons Arts Lab. Jeremy Barron ’00, director of the Halloran Lab, Annie Kloppenberg, associate professor of performance, theater, and dance and director of the Lyons Arts Lab, and other Colby alumni who work in the fashion and performing arts industries were also present. They were joined by fashion students from other colleges, social media influencers, musicians, designers, buyers, and others.
The feeling in the room was effervescent, a champagne fizz that bubbled with youthful, creative, and fun energy. The fashion reflected that vibe, featuring vibrantly hued denim accessorized with ties, grommets, and many other details.
Richard never doubted that the show would work, but the mad dash at the end reminded him of his time on the basketball court. He came to Colby as a committed member of the varsity basketball team, though his athletic career was curtailed by injury just before the beginning of his first year.
“That night before the show, I’m not walking in Runnals, I’m running, like sprinting down the halls to get tasks done. Kind of in a flow state,” he said of the final stretch of a process that started in earnest two and a half months prior. “It was just chaos. But I was oddly calm within the chaos because I knew there was no other option besides getting it done. I was moving at a very fast pace, but it was like playing in a basketball game, honestly, and my team executed with impeccable chemistry.”
Even after the outfits were packed up and the students back on Mayflower Hill, the buzz continued. Richard’s fashion show is exactly the kind of student project the Lyons and Halloran labs are designed to support.
“I think it’s really wonderful,” Kloppenberg said. “It’s really exciting to be able to help students develop capacities through experiments on campus and then put those into practice in the real world.”
“I really don’t encounter many students like him, who aren’t just fashion-minded but switched from athletics to fashion, and also who work as hard as he did. That formula, I don’t see it. So that intrigued me.”
Fashion designer and mentor Andrew Yu
Hard work and a little luck
The seeds for the show were planted last spring, when Richard and three other students initially had a vision of putting together a simple fashion show through an independent study. With Kloppenberg’s guidance and Lyons Arts Lab support, the students were exposed to many different approaches to performance, which changed and expanded their vision for the show.
What they ultimately created, IN TANDEM: The Unconventional Fashion Experience, was an immersive, multimedia event that packed Studio 2 of the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts and brought together student designers, models, musicians, dancers, artists, and others, for what many in the audience described as an unforgettable night.
Richard, a psychology major who used to just bedazzle hats, served as production director for that show and was enthralled by the possibilities he saw in the world of fashion. He taught himself to sew through “YouTube University,” supplemented with instruction through a work-study job with Meredith LaBounty, the costume shop manager for the Department of Performance, Theater and Dance. With new skills, he continued to develop his brand of streetwear-inspired, upcycled clothing.
He also taught himself a little entrepreneurial chutzpah. His father, who owns plant nurseries in Lancaster, Mass., and Pound Ridge, N.Y., had met lifestyle guru Martha Stewart when she stopped by his nursery to shop for trees. They became friendly, which led to Richard’s bold and out-of-the-box idea to ask if Stewart might be willing to connect him with someone in the fashion industry.
She did, putting him in touch with her Bedford, N.Y., neighbor, fashion designer Andrew Yu. Richard met Yu at the end of November and showed him his hats. The designer liked what he saw and suggested he work with Richard to put on a solo show in conjunction with New York Fashion Week. For the student, the idea sounded both crazy and compelling.
“If someone presents an opportunity like that, I have to do it,” Richard said. “I knew it would be near impossible to do. I understood not just how much it would take to produce a show, but I also understood how much I needed to improve as a designer. I knew it would take a lot, but I never doubted that it would get done.”
“Naturally, things will go wrong, and that’s where a lot of the anxiety comes from. But I am confident in our ability to overcome those kinds of obstacles and just set ourselves up for a wonderful show. And this is a learning experience.”
Travis Bendler ’26, chief operating officer for Jack Richard’s brand
A new kind of formula
As the student rushed to complete a full show’s worth of designs, Yu mentored Richard and connected him with a production company, B2B Management, to put on the show. Richard was involved in all parts of the process, including selecting the models from an open casting call.
When asked why he went out of his way to help Richard, Yu initially laughed and said that he couldn’t say no to Martha Stewart. But that wasn’t the whole story.
“I really don’t encounter many students like him, who aren’t just fashion-minded but switched from athletics to fashion, and also who work as hard as he did,” Yu said. “That formula, I don’t see it. So that intrigued me.”
He also liked Richard’s style and commitment to sustainability and values.
“I think his style speaks for the younger generation,” Yu said. “And he also approached fashion like an artist, with a lot of surface treatment and a lot of different techniques. I think Generation Z and Y will embrace his vision.”
For Richard, having Yu as a mentor was invaluable. The experienced designer gave him confidence and encouraged him to make sure his designs would stand out through contrasting colors, thoughtful details, and other effects.
“I like doing complex productions, but Andy said to make sure my focus was on making incredible clothes, things that pop,” said the student, who spent three weeks sleeping in his Runnals workshop in order to concentrate on finishing the job. “He was just overall a great supporter and made sure I stuck to my values rather than put on a façade.”
“Honestly and truly, it was an amazing experience. I felt like I learned so much just being in a space like that. I’m still on cloud nine about it.”
Tyerra Osborne ’27, sociology and performance, theater, and dance double major, who performed at the outset of the show
‘A sense of camaraderie’
Through the process of creating the looks and putting on the show, Richard and the Colby students who went to New York or helped him in Maine all got a crash course in the need to adapt to fluid, changing circumstances.
That started with the original name of the brand, GOOD BALNCE. A few weeks ago, Richard and his leadership team, Travis Bendler ’26, an economics major who is chief operating officer for Richard’s brand, and Natalia Gonyea ’25, a sociology major who did marketing and PR, realized that the unusual spelling made it essentially unfindable on the internet. So they pivoted and rebranded to Richouthebox, a play on Richard’s name.
“It’s all about being adaptive,” Richard said.
The pressure in the Manhattan Mirage seemed to palpably ratchet up in the hours leading up to the show as the students and models rehearsed and got their clothes and makeup ready. As the time got shorter, the B2B producer began to get louder and more frantic as she called for fine-tuning that had to be done before showtime. People quickly and efficiently arranged chairs, checked the sound and lights, and set up the bar and food tables in preparation for the onslaught of attendees. It was clear that no one considered this a low-stakes student project—this was a real fashion show—and one that featured far more moving parts than most new designers would choose. But that is what added to its innovation and power, Kloppenberg said.
“I think it’s probably pretty unusual for New York Fashion Week shows to include live vocalists and dancers and all original music by collaborators,” she said. “I think Jack really wanted to have it be about more than just showcasing his work, even though that was what the event was centered around.”
Tyerra Osborne ’27, a sociology and performance, theater, and dance double major who performed at the outset of the show, said that she wanted to use her dancing to invite the audience to be part of the piece. She heard later that she succeeded, with some people even telling her that they were moved to tears by the performance.
“Honestly and truly, it was an amazing experience. I felt like I learned so much just being in a space like that,” she said a week after the show. “I’m still on cloud nine about it.”
“Our motto at the Halloran Lab is ‘Learn by Doing.’ Jack and his team truly embodied this motto, diving headfirst into the challenge of producing an incredible fashion show with limited resources and minimal experience. Despite the odds, they pulled it off in staggering fashion and created an incredible event.”
Jeremy Barron ’00, director of the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship
‘Learn by doing’
Barron guided Richard as he worked on his business plan and went through the process of pitch competitions. In June, GOOD BALNCE won the Greenlight Maine College Edition pitch competition, which included a check for $10,000.
“Our motto at the Halloran Lab is ‘Learn by Doing,’” Barron said. “Jack and his team truly embodied this motto, diving headfirst into the challenge of producing an incredible fashion show with limited resources and minimal experience. Despite the odds, they pulled it off in staggering fashion and created an incredible event.”
Kloppenberg, too, was a great mentor. “She doesn’t just care about the project, but cares about me as an individual,” Richard said.
Both directors were glad to be present for the fashion show, helping students if they needed to, and just cheering them on.
“There was a sort of care that came across in each of their roles and for one another that was really quite compelling,” Kloppenberg said of the student team. “I think they felt really honored to be a part of this special opportunity and that created a sense of camaraderie among them.”
It was fun to be there, Barron said.
“I was blown away by the collaborative efforts of all the students involved,” he said. “Every element was truly one of a kind. The theme of balance was seamlessly woven throughout the entire show, creating a powerful and unified experience.”
Although it was a solo show, it was not a solo endeavor by any stretch of the imagination, Richard said, adding that he was thrilled to have the other students on the team as well as the financial, artistic, and entrepreneurial support from the Lyons Arts Lab and the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship.
“I’m blessed and grateful to have the support of Colby,” he said.
“There was a sort of care that came across in each of their roles and for one another that was really quite compelling. I think they felt really honored to be a part of this special opportunity and that created a sense of camaraderie among them.”
Annie Kloppenberg, associate professor of performance, theater, and dance and director of the Lyons Arts Lab
Many hands coming together
AJ Mino ’25, a religious studies major who had been a lead collaborator in the inaugural IN TANDEM show, was the artistic director and set designer. Last summer, he gained significant practical experience in this kind of event production work through his job with the high-end fashion production company PRODJECT, which was secured with the help of Delaney McDonough ’13, a Lyons Arts Lab mentor. Mino put his newfound knowledge to use when he spent several days painting sets for the Manhattan event space with Alison Angley ’26, a studio art and English double major. On the day of the event, he helped coordinate the crew.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m really stressed out,” Mino said in the hubbub of the space a couple of hours before the show began. “But the type of person that I am, when pressure comes to me, I don’t allow the challenge to be bigger than I am. I am bigger than the challenge, and that’s it.”
In addition to painting sets, Angley created a 40-second animation that showed Richard sewing and then falling asleep and going into a dreamscape of becoming a fashion designer. She spent time with him in his Colby atelier, the old costume shop in the Runnals Building, and watched his creative process in order to incorporate it into the animation. She also included his original sketch designs.
Angley did both freehand animation and rotoscope animation, in which she traced over every frame of a video she made of Richard, at a rate of 12 frames per second, to produce realistic action. She estimated that it took her more than 100 hours of “straight working and grinding it out” to make the finished product, which she did in addition to her school work and her Jan Plan internship. Seeing it in action at the show was a delight.
“It’s like a runner’s high for me because you do all of this tedious work and then you’re finally done, and you can appreciate what you created,” she said.
Before the show, Bendler said that he was nervous and excited all at once.
“Naturally, things will go wrong, and that’s where a lot of the anxiety comes from,” he said. “But I am confident in our ability to overcome those kinds of obstacles and just set ourselves up for a wonderful show. And this is a learning experience.”
Other students who played critical roles in bringing the show to life included: biology major Taj McDowell ’25, a stylist; Josiah Ketchum ’26, a sociology major who did the soundtrack; Abcedy Carson ’28, one of the models; Abi Tedros ’28, who sang; Maura McGraw ’26, a music and economics double major, who sang; Rafi Aronson ’27, a music and science, technology, and society double major, who also produced the soundtrack; Jana Berry ’25, a studio art major who did photography and videography; and Yash Gawande ’28, who also did photography and videography.
Their dedication and talent were noticeable, and impressive. Yu marveled at what he saw at the show.
“It was the whole school. It was the whole team,” he said. “It was like an army. Jack had an army from the school. How could he not be successful?”
For Richard, having the support of the students and the College was fundamental to his dream. The financial support from the Halloran and Lyons labs was invaluable, and so were the relationships and mentorships he made with Kloppenberg, Barron, and others.
“It’s made everything possible,” he said. “I hope it’s inspiring for other people. I came to Colby as a basketball player, and now I’m a fashion designer, and the school’s completely supporting that. There are so many opportunities to try different paths, and there are so many support systems here where you can start taking those paths more seriously. I think that’s the beauty of a liberal arts education.”
