By Miliana Bazan
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, the Austin Community College fashion department hosted its annual fashion show. This year’s creative title was “VITAE: An Homage to Life and Rebirth.” My experience with the ACC fashion department as a student volunteer model has been eventful, memorable and exciting.
The designer I modeled for was Nicki Jay Moreno, a retired Marine of 20 years and a fashion student at ACC completing her certificate in fashion design. Her collection at the fashion show, “Coral,” displayed four unique and original pieces.
I first met Nicki during the fall 2025 semester when I volunteered to be a model at ACC’s 15th Annual Empowerment Conference. Nicki was one of my designated designers, and her kindness, compassion and work ethic were traits that stood out to me while working with her. At the end of the conference, I told Nicki that if she ever needed help with another project, I would be happy to help. She then told me that ACC hosts an end-of-the-year fashion showcase in the spring to display students’ work and asked if I wanted to model for her.
We kept in touch, and in early spring, she reached out to me regarding details about my measurements, sizing and availability to try on different designs from her collection to see which piece worked best. Thankfully, Nicki and I wear the same size, so she did not have to do much tailoring for the dress. We met up, and I tried on a few dresses from her collection before she selected a beautiful piece for me to wear.
Before the fashion show, the models participated in a photoshoot for the lookbook featuring all the designers and their collections. On April 4, 2026, I arrived at Highland Campus at 9:30 a.m. with my hair and makeup ready alongside Nicki’s other models, and professional photographer Mr. Brown Cathell took our photos. The photoshoot was a thrilling experience because I had never done anything like it before. I was pleasantly surprised by how my photo turned out.
The day before the show, all the models met at Highland Campus for a practice walkthrough of the runway while wearing their dress shoes so they could practice walking in heels, stilettos or boots. On the day of the show, everyone arrived at Highland at 9 a.m. with hair and makeup ready and began dressing at noon. Even though I left with blisters from the high heels, the fashion show went smoothly and was an amazing experience. I was enamored by all the collections and designs the students created. It is inspiring that ACC offers a creative program for aspiring fashion designers, and I was honored to be part of the 2026 showcase.
