Walk that runway! Cavwalk - Ms. Karimi and the Postulation of Fashion 
​By: Holden Williams 

“Quiet backstage, the show is starting.” The production assistant yells as 3 people around me touch up my hair and makeup. My floor-length gown drags along the floor as my high heels clack to reach the stage, but this, this is when I transform. I glide smoothly along the stage while the bright camera lights flash at me; I am the disco ball brightening this dance floor. I reach the end of the stage, and as I turn around, it all floods back to me. All of the work it took to make it to this point, the designers, the showrunners and the planners, this isn’t any runway, it is the Cavwalk, and it represents all the work of Collingwood students to get there. Cavwalk 2026 was an event that shook the Collingwood arts community. As the second year this event took place, it took a lot of people behind the scenes to make it, and that all goes back to Ms. Karimi, a visionary and artist in our very own faculty. After studying Fashion at the City & Guilds of London Art School, it is clear she is a star. Ms. Karimi is very passionate about fashion, and it shows in the work she creates, like her brand Sally’s, which she started and ran for many years before becoming a teacher. She lives, sleeps, and breathes design, and stylishness seeps into her everyday life. If you ever see her in the halls, she will be wearing a stunning outfit. All of this and more make her the perfect candidate for running the fashion club and continuing Cavwalk for many years to come.

The process for a large show like this is no cup of tea and takes months of effort and planning for everyone involved. At the start of the project, students decide on the theme for the fashion show and base their designs on it for the rest of the year. With the 2025 theme being sustainability and this year's theme being movies, the Met Gala pales in comparison. After choosing the idea students create, some took inspiration from movies like Alice in Wonderland, or Star Wars, with others doing The Matrix, or The Joker. Creativity runs free as students cut and sew their apparel together. After that, the show gets set up, models get fitted, and people fill the seats, and that is where the show begins. Without all of those other steps, the fashion show would not nearly be as successful as it was.

The show went off without a hitch, many different students' designs were showcased in such a special way, and with a sold-out show, the reception was massive. Also featured in the show were student-made brands separate from the fashion club, with such a cool opportunity for representation. After the show was over, many feelings washed over Ms. Karimi as she discussed, “The rewarding part is everything for me. Like, I remember I was so tired by 5 o'clock, on the Saturday, but the moment you realize it's getting real, and everything is happening now, the excitement, I forget about being tired, and I just enjoy the moment.” Such a special moment for everyone involved. Throughout Cavwalk, the only core belief that rings true is that fashion is art. As Ms. Karimi said,” This is the only field of art and design where you do not necessarily need to have artistic skills. So anyone can make designs. We need to have artists, fashion is functional, we all use it, and it is an embodiment of all of our spirits.” Every single person who designed for Cavwalk made this true. Another piece of wisdom is to “try new things, because it might bring something out of them that they don't even know existed in them. Be open to exploring more.”
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The future of fashion at Collingwood is hopeful, with visionaries, events and incredibly supportive teachers like Ms. Karimi; there is no harbinger of fear in the air. Ms. Karimi hopes that the event becomes bigger so more student designers can show their innovation, maybe even classes like fashion marketing, design or even the economic industry part of it. Doing the Cavwalk prepares students for life through communication, teamwork, and even shifting future paths. A student sent a letter to Ms. Karimi: “She took a fashion class, and she chose to focus on fashion. And now she is a fashion designer. 
She never thought she gonna get into fashion.” Those student accounts show the true impact of fashion, art and creativity for students. Threaded logic, naïvety, and youth, the garments of tomorrow will breathe with the earth and remember the hands that created them.