Simon Collins, dean of the school of fashion at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, said the Obamas dressed in their typical fashion: one that shows pride in their appearance.

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The show takes place at the Tishman Auditorium at Parsons The New School for Design.

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"I'll do whatever they need, whether it is coffee runs or pulling images for a social media post, " said 24-year-old Monis Alam, a first-time CFDA volunteer who studies at Parsons the New School for Design.

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"I'll do whatever they need, whether it is coffee runs or pulling images for a social media post, " said 24-year-old Monis Alam, a first-time IMG volunteer who studies at Parsons the New School for Design.

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Add to that teaching Fashion Marketing at Parsons The New School for Design and running a business helping burgeoning accessories designers get their handbag lines off the ground and into major retailers across the country.

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Tamara Albu, an associate professor of fashion design at Parsons The New School of Design, said even for consumers who are "just not that into it, " -- it being fashion -- the industry's influence is unavoidable.

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In its present form the New School is indeed new: It is a recent amalgam of a graduate program called the New School for Social Research with two conservatory-like schools (the Parsons School of Design and the Mannes College of Music) and several less well-known entities.

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