A tribute to Professor Anne Vallely, recognizing and honoring 19 years of service to the School of Fashion and Lasell University.
RUNWAY has been a fixture of the spring calendar at Lasell University for decades. But it was a certain, very special fashion professor who took leadership and radically transformed RUNWAY into the spectacular event it has become. From beautifully crafting an impeccable audience experience to thoughtfully ensuring an outstanding level of Connected Learning for students, Professor Anne Vallely built RUNWAY as we know and love it. Her incredible dedication to the School of Fashion and commitment to RUNWAY, in many ways, is why we are today celebrating RUNWAY once again.
In 2002, the fashion show experience was undergoing growing pains. The Fashion Design & Production degree was relatively new to the University, but growing quickly and it became apparent that we needed someone with production expertise to help organize and promote the fashion show.
Along came Professor Anne Vallely. Anne arrived equipped with extensive knowledge and experience to move our fashion show to the next level. At the time, the show was one night and held in de Witt Hall with a seating capacity of 350 guests. With Anne’s proficiency and leadership, we quickly outgrew the space and moved the show to the Athletic Center. The show continued to grow every year, eventually hosting 1,500 guests over two nights in a spectacular display of student work.
Despite managing over 50 students in her Fashion Show Production course, every step of Anne’s process was extremely organized and carefully considered – from tracking ticket sales to facilitating large crowds to backstage logistics to setting up and striking the venue in record time.
Anne always displayed great patience and professionalism, but the most impressive undertaking to witness was how she mentored and empowered her students – always emphasizing and reminding them – this is YOUR show.
Anne taught students to work as a team, to be organized and to have a critical eye; she challenged them to trust themselves as they made important decisions that would make the show their own. Anne gave students the opportunity to be leaders, to be proud of the hard work they put in and of the magical event they would share with our community and hundreds of guests.
This semester, the SOF is so thankful for Anne’s continued support. RUNWAY 2021 looks different this year, and we all know that the ability to pivot to this new format is because of Anne, and the well-designed fashion show structure she built to perfection.
The School of Fashion has immense respect for our beloved Professor Anne Vallely and all she has done for Lasell and our students. We are all extremely appreciative of everything she has taught us over the years; it has truly been a great privilege to work alongside Anne.
Professor Vallely will always be our teacher, our colleague, and our friend. We honor her brilliant work and accomplishments -- and are forever indebted to Anne for the incredible contributions and extraordinary RUNWAY legacy that she built for the Lasell University School of Fashion
Thank you, Professor Vallely!