Second Row Is A Bold New Approach to Fashion and Inclusivity
Introduction: Fashion Shows Beyond the Glamour
Fashion shows have long been synonymous with luxury, exclusivity, and an air of unattainable glamour. Every year, high-profile runway shows are staged in cities like Paris, Milan, and New York, offering the industry’s elite a front-row seat to the latest collections from the world’s most renowned designers. But what about the emerging designers? Those who are passionate about their craft but may not yet have the financial backing or industry connections to showcase their talent on the biggest stages?
Enter Second Row, a groundbreaking fashion show platform co-founded by Benedetta Pizzi, Executive Director, and Filippo Rustichini, Creative Director, and involving students and alumni from the MPS Fashion Management program at Parsons School of Fashion. Second Row represents a bold shift away from traditional fashion shows, emphasizing inclusivity, community, and opportunity for new talent.
The show, which took place in the Vera List Courtyard in New York City in November, showcased 12 emerging designers from around the city and featured a unique blend of fashion, music, and artistic collaboration. It was open to the public, breaking down the barriers that often make fashion shows feel inaccessible to anyone but the industry insiders.
The Vision Behind Second Row: Making Fashion More Accessible
Why Second Row?
For many young designers, breaking into the fashion industry is a challenge. From the high cost of participation in traditional fashion shows to the limited access to buyers and critics, the process can feel discouraging.
As part of Pizzi’s program at Parsons, she and her classmates were challenged to find “white spaces” in the industry—areas that were underrepresented or overlooked. It was discovered that emerging designers, despite their talent, lacked the platforms to showcase their collections on a larger scale.
“Second Row was born out of a need to create a more accessible and inclusive space for emerging designers. We sought to create a platform that could give these designers not just visibility but an opportunity to thrive,” Pizzi explains. “The fashion world is often very closed off to anyone who doesn’t have significant financial backing or industry connections.”
Their frustration with the traditional fashion circuit, where runway shows are often invite-only and require expensive tickets, led them to think differently.
“Giving access to talented young creatives who are hungry for opportunities to get visibility is the way to foster innovation and dialogues around what is relevant in culture right now and what can we do to impact communities” Rustichini explains.
Inclusivity at Its Core
The goal of Second Row is clear: bring designers together, celebrate their uniqueness, and open the show to the public. The team wants to move beyond the traditional front-row seats filled with fashion editors and buyers, and offer a space where ordinary fashion enthusiasts could also enjoy the art of design and perhaps discover their next favorite designer.
“The show was about opening doors—allowing not just the industry, but also the public, to experience the future of fashion.”
Behind the Scenes: The Team that Brought Second Row to Life
Collaborating for a Shared Vision
The Second Row debut runway show could only happen with the support of other students at Parsons, including Aanya Singh (Executive Producer), Alexander Pidzamecky (Public Relations) and Simran Sinha (Fashion Director). Together, they created a multi-dimensional event that offered more than just a traditional runway show.
The team worked to curate the flow of the event to ensure it was more than just a display of fashion; it was a narrative experience that took the audience on a journey. The designers’ pieces were woven together through a central theme of dystopia, reflecting the uncertainties and challenges of the modern world. The live music performance not only complemented the visual aesthetics but helped to evoke an emotional response from the audience, making the experience feel more like art than just a show.
“Fashion shows are often just about the clothes, but we wanted people to feel something, to walk away with an experience. We wanted to create an environment where sound, fashion, and visual elements could come together to tell a bigger story.”
A Platform for Diverse Voices
The designers featured in the show represented a diverse range of voices, cultures, and perspectives. The 12 designers were selected from notable fashion schools like Parsons, FIT, and Pratt Institute, and their collections ranged from futuristic to abstract, all unified by the dystopian theme. What made this fashion show unique was that, despite the independent nature of each designer’s work, there was a thread of unity that ran through all their collections.
As Singh explained, “The designs were diverse, but there was an underlying commonality—a shared vision of exploring dystopia and the future of fashion. The location, the music, and the clothing all worked together to create something more than just a fashion show—it became an immersive experience.”
The Event: Fashion, Music, and Innovation
The Setting: Vera List Courtyard
The Vera List Courtyard served as the perfect backdrop for the event. The open-air space, with its circular concrete structure and falling leaves, created a dramatic, almost surreal environment that complemented the futuristic and abstract elements of the collections. The juxtaposition of nature and man-made structures added to the sense of dystopia that was being explored through the fashion.
The seating arrangements were thoughtfully designed to ensure that everyone had a unique view of the show. Staggered seating in the courtyard, combined with extra seating inside the adjacent cafe and on a bridge above, offered an intimate yet dynamic way for the audience to engage with the show.
Live Music and Sound Design
One of the most exciting innovations of Second Row was the incorporation of live music, which added an emotional layer to the runway show. The sound design was specifically crafted to match the tone of the collections, creating a sensory experience that went beyond sight and sound. The collaboration between fashion and music created a multi-sensory experience that was unlike any other traditional fashion show.
The Designers and Their Collections
The 12 designers featured at Second Row were selected not only for their talent but also for their ability to contribute to the central theme of dystopia. Their collections explored a wide variety of concepts, from futuristic, sleek designs to distressed, fragmented pieces that visually represented the anxieties of the future.
Each designer brought their unique perspective to the table, resulting in a show that felt cohesive in its diversity. Whether the designs explored issues of climate change, technological advancement, or social fragmentation, they were all part of a larger conversation about the future of fashion.
The Future of Fashion: How Second Row is Changing the Industry while Maintaining Brand Equity
The success of Second Row speaks volumes about the changing nature of the fashion industry, and it has shown that fashion can—and should—be inclusive, accessible, and open to all. This new approach is set to challenge the traditional exclusivity of fashion events and create a more democratic space for new designers to gain recognition.
As Pizzi further elaborated, “Our vision for Second Row is one of long-term growth. We hope that the show will continue to evolve, offering new opportunities for designers and breaking down barriers in the fashion world.”
At the same time, understanding and defining what it means to experience Second Row’s vision is the primary task for Rustichini, who first started designing the visual identity for the brand in late 2023.
“The main challenge was to solidify a core brand voice, while allowing our multiple designers’ identities to fully flourish within the same space,” Rustichini reveals. “As we start to think about our second show, this question persists but our mission remains the same: to provide a public-facing platform to emerging fashion designers and creatives.”
Learn more about our debut runway
What made the Second Row fashion show different from traditional fashion events?
Our show stood out by being open to the public, showcasing emerging designers without the exclusivity of traditional runway events. It also incorporated live music and immersive sound design, providing a multi-sensory experience for attendees.
How were the designers selected for Second Row?
The designers were selected through an open submission process and included graduates and students from fashion schools like Parsons, FIT, and Pratt. The designers were chosen for their unique collections and ability to align with the theme of dystopia.
Could anyone attend the Second Row runway?
Yes! Unlike traditional fashion shows, the event was open to the public, giving everyone a chance to experience the work of emerging designers up close.