Originally Printed in the March 2025 Issue of The Jaguar Journal
From flashy petticoats in the 50s to Uggs and Juicy Couture sweatsuits in the early 2000s, youth fashion has come a long way. Evolving from decade to decade, fashion has never been more spontaneous than when in the hands of teens globally. Walking through North Creek School, fashion can’t help but beam throughout its hallways. Hoop earrings from the ‘90s, Ugg boots from the 2000s, and straight-legged jeans from the 60s are still strongly relevant to Nchs students in 2025. Youth fashion at Nchs doesn’t just stop at the revival of old fashion trends but has been recently spotlighted through one of Nchs’ most fashionable students, Dom Lalario. His unique perspective on fashion has brought a sense of versatility and fashion-forward change to North Creek in many ways.
Lalario, the creator and designer behind his brand “Menotti” took notice of North Creek’s taste in fashion and came up with the idea of starting a Fashion Design class here at North Creek. After massing several eighty signatures in support of his idea, he teamed up with North Creek staff Mrs. Smith, to pitch a Fashion Design class to the Northshore School District that will now be available for students to register for in the upcoming 2025-2026 school year this March. Mrs. Smith, the head educator of the forthcoming class shared, “It’s learning about fabric and different types of fabric, sketching fashion designs, and sewing. Lalario is going to help design the class, I will do a lot of the technical teaching but he’s got the sense of what fashion is today and what it looks like in the future”.
Mrs. Smith allowed for a sneak peek at what the Fashion Design class has to offer, highlighting a few projects that students should most look forward to. “The idea for the final for course 1 is, I would love to do sort of like a runway. By the end of the semester, you would design something and we would do a runway. Whether you wear your clothes or someone else does”. As the educator of Nchs’ first-ever Fashion Design class, Mrs. Smith strives to make the class as creatively driven as possible. Students are expected to follow a few key steps in a project or assignment rubric but have full creative freedom when designing their designs and pieces.
Lalario’s passion for fashion doesn’t just run through the new Fashion Design class but more so, through his style. Expressing, “I always liked skating in middle school. I liked the big jeans, especially when they had embroidery on them. I loved JNCO jeans, but they were so expensive so I just thought, ‘What if I made my own?’”. Lalario’s sense of style hasn’t just brought unique and boldness to Nchs but has also inspired others to express their fashion-forward selves. “I like wearing what people don’t wear. If I see someone wearing an essentials hoodie then I’m not going to wear that. I’m going to wear something unique, that stands out, that people are going to be like ‘wow I’ve never seen someone wear that before”.
Nchs’ upcoming Fashion Design class is an outlet for creatives to showcase their talents and aspirations, regardless of prior skill and knowledge, North Creek’s Fashion Design class is an opportunity to learn about the history of fashion, materials, how to sew, and dive into an exploration of the world of fashion.
“Myself, I always liked skating in middle school. I liked the big jeans, especially when they had embroidery on them. I loved JNCO jeans, but they were so expensive so I just thought, ‘What if I made my own?’”. Lalario said. “I like wearing what people don’t wear. If I see someone wearing an essentials hoodie then I’m not going to wear that. I’m going to wear something unique, that stands out, that people are going to be like ‘wow I’ve never seen someone wear that before”.
