This week, spring 2014 ready-to-wear collections are dominating fashion news and style blogs as all New York-based designers showcase their work at New York Fashion Week. I wish I were there. After a summer internship at a fashion showroom, I was given the invitation to attend the shows of the designers we worked with, including Timo Weiland and Richard Chai. But I knew I would be so immersed in my life on campus that I wouldn’t be able to leave.

At Wesleyan, New York City and those coveted fashion week tents feel a million miles away. I can’t help but scour the Internet for every piece of Fashion Week news, pretending I’m right there with the photographers and lucky attendants. Sitting at the back of the classroom, hunched over a laptop (ahem—everyone knows you’re not taking notes), students peruse news sites and social media to stay up-to-date on the things they care about. I’ve been no exception, watching runway videos updated hourly on Style.com while simultaneously taking lecture notes.

Angela Lu ’16 interned in fashion at Anna Sui in New York this past summer and was able able to attend New York Fashion Week this fall, an experience she speaks highly of.

“Living less than hour from NYC has always exposed me to the fashion industry,” Lu wrote in an email to The Argus. “‘Project Runway’ and the number of Vogues and Elle Magazines I have helped a lot too.”

But as they adjust to classes and extracurricular activities, even the most style-focused students don’t always think to study the runways. Sarah Hirschey ’15 and Johnny LaZebnik ’16, two students with strong interests in fashion, both admitted they weren’t keeping up with New York Fashion Week.

Hirschey noted the contrasts between style in major cities and style at the University.

“Being at Wesleyan, there’s a very specific style going on and everyone’s very influenced by it,” Hirschey said. “In L.A. and New York, you see people who are a little more interested in fashion.”

LaZebnik explained the origin of his interest in fashion came from his experience in a large city.

“I think whether you intend it to or not, being in a big fashion city rubs off on you,” LaZebnik said.

Despite these opinions, LaZebnik, Hirschey, and Lu all said they aren’t bothered by the University’s isolated location.

“No, I love it.” Hirschey said. “I totally love the City, but this is a college campus, so it’s a little bit different than normal life.”

The college campus merges worlds of urban and suburban thinking. Translating the over-the-top, at times absurd, works of art walking the runway into a real-life wardrobe is a challenge that person after person tackles. But how does this challenge manifest at a school with a unique and fiercely autonomous student body like Wesleyan?

“Wesleyan is clearly a campus that is very fashion-forward, as well as daring,” LaZebnik said. “If someone asked me to draw a picture of a typical Wesleyan student, I would draw a partially shaved head and harem pants.”

Lu found a way to appreciate the disconnect.

“Our campus is kind of a runway in a sense,” Lu said. “I’m always seeing people wear the cutest outfits, and it definitely inspires me to wear my clothes differently.”

University students generate trends of their own, but the fashion shows each season certainly manage to affect even the most isolated campus bubbles. Hirschey spoke of this influence as seen in stores popular among students, like Urban Outfitters and H&M, which appropriate trends made big on the runway by both avant-garde and ready-to-wear designers. She noted that students often wear clothing without being aware of their implications in the fashion world.

It’s becoming apparent that Wesleyan students see our beautiful campus as its own fashion bubble. I’m certainly struggling to find clothes to wear in this humidity, but I’m excited to see what my peers will wear come spring 2014. After all, we have our own Wesleyan runway to be inspired by.