After calling my Dad and asking if I could book a flight from the über-small airport in Tallahasssee to the city waiting for me to make my dreams a reality, my new mantra for a good week was, “I love social media, I love social media, I LOVE social media!” And it’s true. Social media gave me the most spontaneous weekend of my life to date, all with the simple click of a retweet by the one and only Seventeen magazine Editor-in-Chief, Ann Shoket. This weekend literally brought Rachel to The City.
For the past four years, ambitious collegiettes across the country with a love for fashion and beauty have gathered under the bright lights of NYC to chase after their dreams. Each year, Rent the Runway’s Capstone Weekend hosts hundreds of girls to get their heels in the doors of the fashion, marketing, and beauty industries (and this year, lucky for me, the magazine industry). With speakers from L’Oreal Paris USA to Rent the Runway CEO and Co-Founder, Jenn Hyman, to Seventeen Editor-in-Chief, Ann Shoket, Capstone Weekend 2014 held no shortage of inspiration and women empowerment; the perfect dose most of us collegiettes seek.
Aside from the hair and beauty makeovers held on Friday night, the speakers throughout the day on Saturday, and the opportunity to interview with Rent the Runway on Sunday, Capstone has a much bigger picture: Rent the Runway On Campus. With RTR On Campus, college campuses throughout the nation form a group of Rent the Runway campus representatives that hold RTR fashion shows, collaborate with other organizations throughout campus, and basically communicate with anybody and anything regarding Rent the Runway to help promote the company. Florida State has our very own group of reps that you can find here who attended Capstone as well. Capstone Weekend’s main goal is to gather all of the RTR reps in one place to meet and network with each other, but is open to any collegiette across the nation interested in the event (like me).
I have never gathered as much inspiration in such a short amount of time as I did at Capstone Weekend 2014. Lisa Salzer, founder of luxury jewelry brand Lulu Frost, had a lot to say about taking risks. Rent the Runway’s Jenn Hyman discussed with us the true meaning behind the Rent the Runway brand, with its main goal being for everyone to experience that “Cinderella moment.” Seventeen’s Ann Shoket gave us her three “patented” steps of advice to landing any job along with how she worked her way up to the top. We even heard from L’Oreal professionals and were introduced to a new line premiering in the near future called #MissManga. All of it was just simply amazing.
Left: Rent The Runway CEO and Co-Founder, Jenn Hyman
Right: Lulu Frost Founder, Lisa Salzer
It was so refreshing meeting genuinely nice, stylish, like-minded girls at the event, which took place from March 28-March 30. Often we would hear from the speakers, “You all are some of the most stylish women I have seen in one room,” or “You all are extremely ambitious,” or “How many of you are freshmen or sophomores?” *Half of the room raises their hand.* Prizes and scholarships were awarded at the end of the event for top campus reps, the blog contest, etc.
Seventeen Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Ann Shoket
Overall, it was a truly unique experience (I died a little knowing I was sitting 20 ft. away from the ridiculously powerful, hilarious, and intelligent Ann Shoket) and I can’t wait to see the upcoming plans for Rent the Runway, Rent the Runway On Campus, and Capstone Weekend 2015. Thank goodness for that simple retweet, and for those of you who aren’t exactly sure what Rent the Runway is, check out this quick overview from our style blog section.
Follow @rtroncampus and @RenttheRunway to learn more!