The strategic communications major designed a sustainable campaign for New York Fashion Week to become one of the five finalists in this year鈥檚 competition.
Senior Lily Peskin 鈥21 joins a distinguished list of talented 黑料不打烊 strategic communications majors before her to be named a finalist for the PRWeek鈥檚 Outstanding Student Award, set to be announced on March 18.
鈥淚t’s not something that I expected going into my senior year doing, but luckily I was introduced to it,鈥 Peskin said. 鈥淚t definitely has given me some confidence. It’s given me something to show. It’s let me connect with a professor and grow that relationship, and helped me understand a little bit more about the profession I’m going into.鈥
Peskin first learned about the national PRWeek student competition for John Doorley, associate professor of strategic communications. After an introduction, Peskin started the application process, which included a campaign for New York Fashion Week and a designer about to debut an upcycled, recycled plastic shoe line.
鈥淵ou have to make a whole campaign strategy talking about all the different ways you want to get the designer out there and how to promote the event,鈥 Peskin said. 鈥淏ut really they just give you a prompt and it’s your job to take advantage of it and do as much as you want with it.鈥
The campaign is a significant amount of work for students, especially during a pandemic, Doorley said. Students must be willing to work over the holidays, accept critique, and respond with a 鈥渃an-do鈥 attitude. Doorley has mentored previous finalists, and supported Peskin throughout the planning and pitching processes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 100 percent hers,鈥 Doorley said. 鈥淪he worked very hard, and it goes to show you her attitude, and her ability to think and write clearly, which is what strategic communications is all about.鈥
For her final product, Peskin created a sustainable campaign for a virtual New York Fashion Week. Streamed live from the streets of New York on social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok, Peskin鈥檚 campaign included a week of zero waste in the fashion industry, promoting initiatives with different celebrities.
鈥淢ine was definitely focused on sustainability and the possibility of zero waste staffing or zero waste events in the fashion industry,鈥 Peskin said. 鈥淚 named it the 鈥楻eboot collection.鈥 I thought that was a fun play on revitalizing old plastic bottles into new shoes, but also like rebooting into the future of sustainable fashion.鈥
Peskin and the other four finalists will attend a virtual awards ceremony on March 18, where this year鈥檚 PRWeek Outstanding Student of the Year Award will be presented.
In 2016,聽聽for the PRWeek Student of the Year award. A year later, Rachel Hobbs 鈥18 earned the same recognition. In 2018,聽Hobbs and Kelly Valerio 鈥20 were both named top-five finalists, with the former advancing to the top two. In 2019, Anissa Cooper 鈥19 was named honorable mention 鈥 or runner-up.