Event Student Designers’ Unique Creations Blend NASCAR Themes with Chicago Street Style

In a captivating collaboration between the School of Fashion at Columbia College Chicago and NASCAR, 18 student designers recently showcased their repurposed NASCAR gear-inspired fashion creations at the Race Day Fashion Show. The event, held on Saturday, July 5, took place at the NASCAR Fan Plaza in Chicago, nestled between the conclusion of the Xfinity Series Race and the Zac Brown Band performance.

The designs, led by recent Columbia graduate Fredo Medina-Ortega, seamlessly blended the grit, speed, and spectacle of NASCAR with the bold aesthetic of Chicago street style. The student designers, including Waldo Perez, Sydney McCormack, Muath Amoudi, Yatziri Cervantes, Lucy Conway, and more, each brought their personally unique vision to the runway.

Columbia’s new President and CEO, Shantay Bolton, who had just started her leadership position a few days earlier on July 1, attended the NASCAR race on Saturday and then made her way to the fashion show. Bolton praised the college’s collaboration with NASCAR, describing it as a “wonderful way” for students to express and highlight their talents. She also shared that her first NASCAR experience was “exhilarating.”

The idea to partner a fashion show with the racing organization was born after three Columbia students landed NASCAR internships through the college’s Fashion Lab in the Spring 2025 semester. These students proposed a race weekend activation, and NASCAR generously donated recyclable materials, giving the group the green light to begin designing for the dual event.

The fashion show was livestreamed through the School of Fashion’s Instagram page, which also facilitated an interactive fan voting system. The top three designs, as determined by the audience, were announced at 5 p.m. The grand prize winner was Mora Forkapa, a senior product development and fashion studies major, who took home $1,500 for her design, which was modeled by her roommate, Lizzy Fowlkes, a senior BFA fashion design major.

Forkapa’s winning design, which drew inspiration from various NASCAR elements, including black tire prints and driver’s safety nets, left a lasting impression on the audience. Her proud father, Mark Forkapa, who traveled from Cleveland, Ohio, expressed his awe at seeing his daughter’s work showcased on the public stage, stating that it was “incredible” and that he was “so proud” of her talent and achievements.

This collaboration between the School of Fashion and NASCAR not only provided a unique platform for student designers to showcase their talents but also highlighted the college’s commitment to fostering creative partnerships and offering extraordinary opportunities for its students to explore the intersection of fashion and the high-octane world of motorsports.