Handmade clothing, art and accessories will be up for sale at the Memorial Union East Quad on Feb. 22
By MIRIAM RAMAKRISHNAN — arts@theaggie.org
With the weather warming up, a wardrobe update is definitely justified; thankfully, UC Davis’ fashion students have you covered. On Feb. 22 from noon to 4 p.m., student designers and vendors will gather together on the East Quad of the Memorial Union (MU) to host the Fashion & Design Society (FADS) quarterly market.
The market will include student-made and vintage fashion, art and handmade goods of all kinds. In a collaboration with Prod. Davis, student DJs will also provide a soundtrack for the event.
Amy Lee, co-president of FADS and fourth-year communication and cinema and digital media double major, revealed the work done behind the scenes to ensure the market runs smoothly.
“The hardest thing this year was securing a location,” Lee said. “We used to do the market in Cruess Hall, but because it gathered a lot of attention, the department deemed it a fire hazard.”
Vivian Le, co-president of FADS and fourth-year design major, shed light on the planning and logistics behind the event.
“There are a lot of protocols we have to follow,” Le said. “We have to shut off the sprinklers [and] follow safety procedures on how we’re going to lay out the vendors.”
Last year’s vendors included UC Davis Alumna Sara Lindstrom, the 2024-2025 FADS president, who runs the handmade design business Undoing the Laces. As a returning vendor to the market over the past three years, Lindstrom shared the impact of the experience.
“It was nice to see people actually care about my designs,” Lindstrom said. “By the second or third market, people recognized my brand and were excited to see my pieces in person.”
As of today, Lindstrom has over 50,000 followers on her Instagram account, @undoingthelac3s; however, this was not always the case.
“I had never really gotten attention from social media or gone viral, so it was really exciting to see people come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I saw you from that TikTok.’” Lindstrom said. “They would say, ‘I came here all the way from Sac,’ or from Roseville or even the Bay Area. That was really exciting to see.”
Another vendor, UC Davis alum Robert Nykodym, spoke on the trends they noticed at previous markets.
“My friend Delilah’s booth had a lot of eclectic pieces that she collected over the years and she was selling almost everything for $5, which made her super popular,” Nykodym said. “I think having a low price point for used fashion is super important right now, because of how inflated prices have become on Depop and in thrift stores.”
Nykodym also touched on Lindstrom’s designs for Undoing the Laces.
“[Lindstrom’s] shop was also super popular with her custom fur-lined shorts and other handmade pieces,” Nykodym said. “Looking at both her and Delilah’s booths, I’d say people really wanted unique statement pieces with special details like a custom trim, bright color or fun print.”
While vendors bring their own unique styles and trends to the market, there is an underlying theme of community to FADS as a whole. With such a large club presence at school, Lee elaborated on the importance of events like the market for the artistic community at Davis.
“There’s a lot of creatives here at Davis, and sometimes they don’t have outlets to show off their work,” Lee said. “We really want to support small businesses and let people be able to sell their pieces and promote themselves.”
Le also reflected on the impact of the market, noting the eco-friendly mission behind the organization.
“FADS is about promoting sustainable fashion,” Le said. “A lot of people I know, whenever they come to the market, usually try to get rid of their older clothes. It creates this cycle of sustainable fashion where people are swapping out clothes or getting new ones.”
The FADS market on Feb. 22 is set to provide art, fashion and music to the UC Davis student community. To learn more about FADS and upcoming events, visit their website at fadsatucd.org.
Written by: Miriam Ramakrishnan — arts@theaggie.org
