For this spring semester, Goodwill NYNJ and The New School’s Parsons School of Fashion collaborated to provide six Bachelor of Fine Arts senior students the opportunity to work directly with our production department to get material to upcycled for use in their thesis collection. The semester-long project culminated with the students showing their designs at the Parsons Fest the week before graduating in May.

After coming up with a concept for their collection, each of the students came to our Astoria headquarters to access unsold textiles and other materials. That was just the beginning. Then they had to produce each piece according to their design.

“Goodwill NYNJ is a champion of inclusive fashion,” comments Katy Gaul-Stigge, our CEO and President. “We want to promote the power of sustainability and highlight Goodwill to a new generation of designers as they enter the world of fashion and work.”