@RisdRunway Brings RISD Fashion to the Masses

RISD Runway

If you take a jaunt through College Hill, you  might think you accidentally stumbled onto the runway.

There goes a girl in an outfit that is made up of entirely of different shades of orange, a guy in an oversized coat paired with skinny, shiny pants and platform sandals and wow, look at that girl rocking purple hair and an all black tracksuit!

Whatever the combo, RISD students have style that you can’t miss. It’s head-turning, glamorous, grungy and wholly enviable. Heck, they even make unwashed hair look good.

Alice McDonald `18 and Lauren Klein `18, two RISD students, began capturing and showcasing these stellar street styles on Instagram under the moniker, RisdRunway.

The two, dressed demurely in comparison to their fellow students, first thought of the idea of featuring outfits when they saw a graphic design alumni rocking a colorful print shirt.

“We saw this guy with a patterned shirt and we were like  we have to take a picture of him!” says Klein, munching on a doughnut in the RISD Museum’s Cafe Pearl.

McDonald’s black bob shakes as she nods in agreement, ” We told him that we had an Instagram account–”

“–but we hadn’t actually made it yet,” Klein interjects, laughing.

“He kind of started it all. Since then we’ve been posting  photos of people who have great articles of clothing or outfits.”

The one who started it all:

And boy, are the outfits the definition of cool.

Klein recalls one of her favorite photos, a picture of a couple wearing outfits with contrasting prints.

“There’s one picture that I love. Our two friends are in a relationship and one is wearing this cow print everything and the other is wearing cheetah print everything. I love that because relationships at RISD are so quirky and its very inclusive and diverse without having to state it. It’s a come as you are situation which I like a lot.”

Not a moment later, that same couple saunters (literally) into Cafe Pearl and stands with their elbows resting on the counter, non-nonchalant, as they wait for their order. Their outfits are clashes of color, fabric, cut and texture, but they somehow pull it off in this RISD bubble.

Klein and McDonald aim to pop that bubble, to bring a slice of RISD style to the masses, even if you’re only takeaway is a “hmm, that’s interesting.”

“It’s a chance for other people to appreciate the personalities that are here at RISD,” says McDonald. “I’ll be walking around and be like ‘wow that person looks so cool! I wish their outfit could be really appreciated right now.’ This let’s us do that.'”

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