There’s a slight whirring through the room. Light pushes through the projector in my Brooklyn bedroom onto the wall, first making contact with Cassidy and spotlighting the spikes of her blonde hair buns. Adjusting the puffed sleeves of the black blouse she made specifically for this shoot, fragments of her face are lit up by the projection we’ve just rotated upside down.

The camera obscura, a phenomenon where passing light rays project an inverse image onto the wall, was an impetus for the way in which we see the world. These flipped perspectives propelled us forward in photography and art innovation, and in a broader, philosophical sense, expanded our perspectives.

Student, designer, stylist and multi-faceted creative Cassidy Donaho caught my eye from the first day we met at Manhattan Vintage, in her colorfully-layered get-up and handmade bolo tie, a green ribbon with an iridescent scalloped shell placed in what looks like cotton-candy colored polymer clay. A ball of Los-Angeles born and bred sunshine, Cassidy is a bright-eyed Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) student who values both heritage and innovation. Ultimately, she wants to see the industry flip its rules and expand outlooks for both consumers and designers alike– much like the camera obscura.

Describing her personal style as a fusion of a, “Punkish, unicorn, clown” Cassidy does it all, a fashion consumer, connoisseur, and professional. She is in her second year studying fashion design at FIT, works for two vintage stores in New York City, Allegra Vintij and Olive’s Very Vintage, and creates under the brand name, “Wizzard Godmother.”

Alexia Hill: What originally inspired you to get into fashion?

Cassidy Donaho: Honestly, it was a very recent decision for me. I danced my entire life and I think the seed for fashion kind of sprouted watching the seamstresses that made my costumes as I was little. I had this really awesome seamstress named Donnie and she would just give me scrap fabrics to play around with because I was just so intrigued, watching her put all the trims and the rhinestones and everything together, just to make the perfect garment for this one, three-minute dance, which is crazy. There was so much thought put into it, and I think a lot of my inspiration also comes from performance art in general. I was planning on dancing professionally, actually, I got a job in LA doing marketing for a costume company, but I got injured and I tore the labrum on my left hip, so I stopped dancing.

AH: What a pivot.

CD: At that point, I'd already started sewing. I had already started really getting into collecting vintage, which kind of started through my grandmother's jewelry collection. I never met her, so I rework her stuff and um I wear some of her stuff every day. But it [fashion] just kind of bloomed into me, needing to shift my expression from dance. It was just the best way for me to do that because I got to combine makeup, hair, art, everything that I'm interested in all into one.

AH: Tell me about Wizzard Godmother.

CD: The name basically came to be because I would go out with my friends and I would make them last minute outfits before we'd go out and just play around, play dress up and I kind of liked the idea of being some sort of fashion godmother. I think it's really fun to be able to just help somebody feel comfortable in their own skin and make them feel like their best version of themselves, especially when it's somebody that you love. Seeing them shine when you put them in an outfit that they love! I created Wizzard Godmother as an extension of my creativity to keep myself motivated and really challenge myself.

AH: How is FIT?

CD: I do love FIT, but being in a school for design and fashion, it really does kind of suck the creativity out of you sometimes, because they're teaching towards consumerism and being marketable. Wizzard Godmother is kind of just my weird space to explore and experiment.

The good and the bad, I'm very grateful to FIT for providing me with such an awesome community of creatives because I've never really thought I would find a place where I would have somebody that matches every single niche in my brain. It's so interesting to be able to talk to people and see their different perspectives and their creative processes…the administration and school, I do think they could do a better job at, as with all the fashion industry, just being more upfront, more authentic and honest in how they’re marketing in the school.

They like, prepare you to work at Macy's and obviously not everybody's going to “make it” when it comes to being a designer, some people might have to settle, but there's not a place for everyone in a Macy's kind of world, you know? You have to be able to explore your creativity and you should be doing that in school.

AH: What do you think is outdated or needs to change in the industry?

CD: There are many things that need to change in the industry. I think the first thing that needs to really change is more support toward independent designers and small businesses. There are all of those gigantic umbrella companies that kind of monopolize the fashion industry, and it's just really hard for people to break through and actually become successful. A lot of the designers that I look up to that I think are doing great from the outside, talk about how they're struggling financially and putting all of their money back into their collections and barely making anything. So it just really is hard to get into. I also think out of the brands that are actually sustainable and unique and not focus on trends, they are all independent designers. When you see kids that are coming out of school right now and making their own brands, the quality is so different from what you're seeing on the runway.

AH: You think better?

CD: It's better. I think it's more fully developed. I think it's more experimental. I also think a lot of the time because it is like a boys’ club in fashion design, it's just really hard for women to see how they're able to fit into the fashion industry. Then when you do see women that are fitting into the fashion industry like Collina Strada, she is putting everything back into what she's doing and creating sustainable fabrics. She sells any of her excess fabrics back to students and so she's properly disposing of everything.

There's a lot of really awesome people out there that are trying to do good but then there's also a lot of green washing and that kind of saving face, which is the real problem with the industry. I want to see less surface-level and more meaningful clothes. I want clothes to be powerful again.

AH: I get it. But also, from a realistic standpoint, even if everyone has amazing ideas, are we all really going to start our own lines and make tons of new things, do we really need more stuff?

CD: Art needs to have purpose. You need to know why you're doing it, especially if you are sustainability focused and not making it for the outcome of wanting success. I think you can see a lot of viral fashion designers are looking for that and that's not enough. Success can be defined in so many different ways though – I honestly think having a following that is really dedicated to you and loves you, even if you're not a household name, that's so much more valuable in my opinion.

AH: How do you see clothing?

CD: I see clothing as the opportunity to tell a story. When I think about how I style my outfits, there's a reason why I put everything on. It’s all about being able to kind of explore different parts of my personality through clothing, while also having an aspect of it remain true to myself throughout each version of myself. I wake up really early most of the time, because I like having time to mess around in the morning. I have a little dance party when I get ready most of the time. Whatever calls to me, I put it on, and it just feels like this is how I'm supposed to look. This is what my spirit looks like, this is what the inside of my brain looks like.

AH: What would you consider staples in your personal style?

CD: I love button-ups. I love a tutu, I always need a bolo tie in my rotation, a little white nightgown is always a great layering piece. I have one that my mom gave me from when she was my age and I wear it with pants, I wear it under dresses, it literally comes out about like twice a week, cause I am an outfit repeater, I will say that, on the record. No, but I stand by it, you should be able to be more creative if you don’t have to buy new outfits all the time. I think it's really fun to be able to play with one piece of clothing, especially if it's the most plain piece of clothing I have, and then I can just be like, how crazy can I go with this? How can I take it in another direction the next time?

AH: What advice would you have for someone that's trying to find their personal style?

CD: I feel like you need to look outside of fashion. I think that's my thing. I think really figuring out what your references are and why, and absolutely questioning everything that you're interested in is the most important part about finding your fashion. For me, when it comes to films and music, I would go into films like “Cabaret”, for example, and think, “Why do I like this?” The makeup's awesome, but it's inspired by performance art and that's kind of why I'm drawn to it. I love the bells and whistles of the performance outfits.

So I do think it's really just about figuring out what you like outside of fashion, figuring out what your purpose for dressing is, whether you want to express yourself, you have clothing for function, cause it can all crossover. Do a little bit of experimenting, going into thrift stores with your friends, trying stuff on, not being afraid to wear a bad outfit, because I think we all should be wearing bad outfits more, you should just be having fun.

AH: Do you feel like fashion has encouraged personal growth or evolution for you?

CD: Honestly, I do think so. Diving into fashion for me has been an experiment of going back in history and learning about things through a different perspective, because when you learn about things through fashion, honestly, it makes things make more sense. Looking back at the people that I am inspired by and what drove them to do what they were doing, out of necessity or personal expression. Whether it comes to punk style with people making their own clothes and upcycling things, or drag queens who genuinely will be couture designers and create an entire look. I saw “Paris Is Burning” and I think that was one of the most influential movies for me, fashion-wise.

So yeah, looking into how people take fashion for what it is and use it as a statement, is really special to me and it kind of makes me introspective and question why I want to put anything out into the world in general. Obviously I don't want to just be throwing stuff into the abyss, but it just makes me think about what my purpose on this Earth is and how I want to be remembered, and I think that's more than fashion. I think part of the reason why I put so much effort into the way I dress is because I do think it's a way to connect with other people, spread kindness, all of that.

There's things that are influencing our personal style, even if it's just because it's easier to exist in society like that, even if people don't think about it. I feel like within the Queer community in New York, I feel like I've been seeing less fun outfits, less signifying elements that point out queerness in a way. You can be nonchalant about it, that's totally cool too. But it's just been very interesting to see.

AH: Do you value innovation and evolution, or tradition and heritage more?

CD: I think I'm gonna say both, because I think that they are inevitably intertwined in a way. I do think when it comes to heritage, we need to understand why certain styles are the way they are. I think it's really awesome working in vintage to try on different garments from different periods and see where they changed, how they make the sleeves because the armpit was hugging in the 60s or whatever. When you're thinking about actually designing, I think it's really important to go through the heritage and understand construction details and purpose and fabrication and all that.

But I also think innovation has to come from heritage, because fashion, it's all cyclical, you can't do anything new. You really can't, you can do things in your own way, you can put your own spin on things, and you can recreate something, you can recreate concepts and ideas, but I don't think that you can fully innovate. I think that's a beautiful thing because it makes everything connected. but I think it's really important to understand the heritage and culture behind fashion, and then be able to expand on it and put yourself into it in a way.

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AH: That's a beautiful answer. It goes back to your idea that we're not doing anything original. It's best to know off the bat that you're not going to make anything original and you should at least understand where your references are coming from, the context behind it.

CD: I think part of needing to be innovative and so apart from everyone else is kind of just an ego thing, and I think to be a really great creative you have to understand that we're all working for part of a bigger business or whatever you believe in.

AH: What do you feel your purpose is in this big, scary fashion world?

CD: My goal is really just to inspire people in a way to help them find themselves fashion wise. II had a lot of idols growing up that helped me realize nothing's too crazy unless you say so. You can do whatever you want, dress whatever you want.I have some designers that I’d love to work for, like Collina Strada, Anna Sui, Suzanne Fang, some really awesome female designers. Eventually I would love to have my own boutique brand and be able to do whatever I want. I think that it's every creative’s dream to have the freedom to do whatever they like.

Wherever I end up, I just want to be able to be around people that I like working with and make things that are meaningful and conscious of the environment, be innovative in what a brand is or what fashion could be. I don't think we need to have everything all the time. Whatever way it goes, I think the industries are changing and having a dead set idea of what you want to do is almost like setting yourself up to fail, to close your mind off to things that could be really great for you. You never know what's gonna come up.

Editorial Credits:

Photos, Creative Direction, Hair: Alexia Hill

Styling, Makeup, Hair: Cassidy Donaho

Production Assist: Yesenia Follingstad