A model sashays down the runway in a canary yellow bustier and a coordinated, floor-length hooded cape. Next up: A succession of flouncy halter dresses, structured jumpsuits and retro bohemian looks evoking the Flower Power movement of the 1960s.
This is not Paris Fashion Week. It’s a scene from Marymount University’s annual Portfolio in Motion (PIM) spring fashion show, where everything similarly happens by design.
To prepare for this annual, student-run expo, Marymount fashion design students spend months sketching, revising, measuring and sewing the garments that eventually make their way onto the catwalk. Students studying interior design, graphic and media design, and fashion merchandising also contribute their creative skills to get the show runway ready.
“Everything that goes into Portfolio in Motion is all unique; it has to be 100% your own design,” says Rebecca Moreno, a 2019 Marymount graduate who designed several pieces for that year’s show, including a three-piece set with a corseted top, pants and an overskirt. Today, she works for Sondra Falk Couture, a Las Vegas-based atelier specializing in bridal and formalwear, and cocktail dresses.
PIM typically draws about 800 to 1,000 attendees, including D.C.-area influencers and apparel designers. Historically, it’s been staged in the university’s gym—but this year brings a fresh change of venue. For the first time, PIM will make its 2025 debut at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, on May 3.
“We wanted to see how it would work to expose our show to more of the community in a public space,” says Julia Ravindran, associate professor of fashion design, who has overseen PIM for six years. A designer by trade, Ravindran previously worked for designers Reem Acra, Bibhu Mohapatra and Carole Hochman, producing custom-made gowns and developing bridal and eveningwear collections showcased during New York’s famed Fashion Week.
PIM has a different theme every year. During the fall semester, students present their ideas, including visions for color stories, hair, makeup and stage décor, and everyone votes for their favorite. Last year’s concept, Soiree, evoked a dinner party setting. This year’s theme, Secret Garden, promises greenery and flowers as a backdrop to the clothes and models, who are also Marymount students.
One face that always stands out in the crowd is the Designer of the Year, an industry luminary who attends the show and provides feedback to student designers during a portfolio review the next day. Past honorees have included Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors and Tadashi Shoji. This year, it’s D.C.-based Nina McLemore, who designs business apparel for women. She currently has a Marymount fashion design student interning at her flagship store in Chevy Chase.
For many students, PIM can be a career starter. “Sometimes this has led to job opportunities, internship opportunities,” Ravindran says. “It’s a really, really amazing part of their senior capstone.”
Monique Bryant, class of 2017, says participating in PIM showed her how all the elements of fashion design fit together, including culling sketches after peer review, making prototypes and meeting deadlines.
“That informs a lot of how I work now,” says Bryant, who last year opened her own studio, Alyssa Monique Bridal, in Orlando. “I design and handmake every piece for all the brides that order my gowns. It’s been going really, really well so far.”