Reflections on the runway: MIT Gala marks four years of design community

On a lively May evening, fans and friends gather for the MIT Gala, an annual showcase of student fashion design. The MIT Media Lab is awash in abstract visuals pulsing to beats by the MIT Laptop Ensemble. A glimmering runway stretches through the audience. The Gala commences with a performance by the student dance troupe Ridonkulous. Attendees cheer as models saunter down the runway to the beat of thrumming techno.

This immersive evening is months in the making. In its fourth year, the Gala contemplated Reflections, manifesting as 44 student-designed pieces exploring “mirrors, dualities, reveals, reversals, and gazes."

The theme of Reflections also invites the opportunity to look back, coinciding with a milestone for many of the organization's leaders. In her concluding speech for the Gala, co-director Lindsay Reyes '26 announced that many of her fellow board members were soon to graduate as part of the MIT Class of 2026.

Growing design community

When Lindsay Reyes ‘26 first joined MIT Gala, it was the spring launch event for Infinite Magazine, the MIT student publication centering fashion and art. Growing in scale and ambition through word-of-mouth and passion, MIT Gala became its own organization in 2022.

As MIT Gala grew over the years, so did Lindsay’s responsibilities, first working on public relations and branding for Infinite to taking the lead on the Gala's set design. Finally in her senior year, Lindsay served as co-director of MIT Gala alongside Haydn Long ‘26.

Earning support from the Council for the Arts at MIT and the MIT Morningside Academy for Design, the student group drew in more dimensions of design, recruiting set designers, lighting designers, dancers, and musicians to orchestrate a live runway production.

“In the four years since [joining], I’ve watched this event grow in ways I never thought possible,” recounts Haydn.

“Every year the MIT Gala hits a new peak, and it seems almost impossible to outdo ourselves. But every year, we somehow manage to do just that."

As a live production, design and performance choices would resonate with wearable garments on display whose unique materials, from satin to chainmail, shimmered under the limelight.

Designing with unique materials, mentorship, and feedback

Many students join MIT Gala to explore design and fabrication in one of the few spaces on campus centering fashion. The organization offers practical beginner workshops such as demonstrating how to sew a button. Makerspaces around campus and mentorship from shop staff allow for experiments with materials and techniques to execute ambitious designs.

Petal to the Metal by Eleni Morales

In her first time designing for MIT Gala as a second-year undergraduate, Eleni Morales leapt at the chance to take on a big welding project. Forging “Petal to the Metal,” Eleni spent over seventy hours designing, prototyping, laser cutting, forging, welding, and sewing in the Metropolis makerspace. She came in with welding experience, but learned to sew for her garment design.

“It gave me the opportunity to hone my metalworking passions in an artistic way,” Eleni says. She plans to return as a designer next year.

The True Cost and When It Rains, It Pours by Lawrence Liu '26

For Lawrence Liu ‘26, MIT Gala was a chance to challenge himself as a sewist and combine his research interests with art. As an undergraduate researcher, Lawrence worked on a project predicting clothing demand to minimize fashion waste, inspiring him to use upcycled, secondhand materials in his sewing.

Making use of a sewing machine in the Simmons Hall dorm, Lawrence created “The True Cost” and “When It Rains, It Pours,” both constructed with upcycled denim and glimmering accessories made in collaboration with his model, Phoebe Xu.

Aphrodite, Rhea, and Gaea by Yoshi Ghosh ‘26

Encouraged by friends, Yoshi Ghosh ‘26 began as a model for MIT Gala and soon began designing garments. In 2026, she explored non-traditional materials for garment fabrication, experimenting with stained glass in each piece for her Greek Goddess collection featuring the dresses “Aphrodite,” “Rhea,” and “Gaea.” Yoshi utilized MIT MAD’s N52 Makerspace for sewing and jewelrymaking and the Metropolis makerspace for glasswork.

Yoshi gives credit to shop mentors Bill McKenna and Chris Haynes at MAD’s N52 Lab and Lee Zamir at Metropolis. She says, “[They] were a huge help with learning how to use different machines and brainstorming the best ways to approach each design.”

Growing Pains by Sophia Fan '26

In styling, garments and models became unified artistic pieces. As Director of Styling, Sophia Fan ‘26 oversaw the styling studio. She contributed a ceramic jewelry piece “Growing Pains” replicating an anatomical spine. For Sophia, fabricating the piece from sculpting to sewing served as a “meditation of growing,” underscoring the “occasional discomfort it takes [to build] one's character.”

Community proves to be an asset for designing garments and the Gala altogether. In design, “feedback is your greatest tool,” says Lindsay Reyes, describing the rounds of peer critique designers go through as they iterate on pieces for the Gala. With many hands pitching in, the Gala itself is an ever-evolving concept. “Creation is meant to be shared and iterated upon,” Lindsay adds.

Cultivating leaders through design

The spring show is the tip of the iceberg — within an academic year, student leaders manage semesters of planning; workshops; designer and model recruitment; and coordination. MIT Gala becomes a vessel for students to grow leadership skills through design practice, stepping into greater responsibility.

As former Director of Runway, Yoshi Ghosh says, “Even though I was only on the board for one semester, I'm really proud of how much I was able to help and learn from the senior board members.”

Seniors Layla Stanton and Pria Sawhney will serve as co-directors of the next MIT Gala launching the spring of 2027 and plan to build upon relationships established across MIT. They credit the “fluidity in the leadership” allowing for members to step up and help out.

With the change in leadership at this milestone, Lindsay remains hopeful that MIT Gala will continue to thrive. Co-director Haydn echoes: “I know we have created something truly lasting.”

Staying in touch with experienced leaders and alumni may remain key for returning and new members:

“We still have a bunch of [undergraduates] who are reprising their roles,” says Lindsay. “I just hope that if they ever need anything, that they also reach back out.”