SUNY Ulster fashion students are participating in a great service learning opportunity and gathering intercultural experiences this semester! Students in Professor Angela Kunz’s FAS 220: Apparel Design II class are working on a set of pattern designs that two Guatemalan women’s groups, one a shelter for survivors of domestic violence and the other part of a small rural community who recently lost all their crops, can use to create fashionable, export-friendly clothing to sell.
The project began when Angela took a trip with a SUNY New Paltz professor and students to Antigua, Guatemala to work with local women. While the group was there, they visited one of the three domestic shelters in the country, where Angela discovered that the shelters were given limited funding. After finding a local with a large warehouse of traditional Guatemalan shirts, she decided to bring a few back for a class project that would give her students a chance to help others in need.
The students have refashioned the Guatemalan shirts that Angela brought back into new, easy-to-sew attire that the Guatemalan women can easily recreate on a larger scale and export. When finished, the students will be able to use the sample they created in their professional portfolio. In December, Angela and one of her students will return to Guatemala to deliver the finished concepts and help teach the steps to the women so they can recreate the garments.
Angela hopes that this exciting new project will build longevity and financial security for these women. She hopes to return in the future with more students from SUNY Ulster and create an ongoing collaboration between the women of Guatemala, SUNY New Paltz students, and SUNY Ulster students.
