Rambler Studios 2024 Summer Program with Henry Street Settlement at Abrons Arts Center

Wed, Jul 10 - Mon, Aug 19  2024

Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street, New York City

Henry Street Settlement and Rambler Studios Amsterdam are teaming up again in 2024 for another NYC Summer Program, using fashion design to unleash the talent and creativity of the youth the agency serves.

The Rambler Studios NYC Youth Design Program empowers young talents to design their life through fashion. They learn about working in a professional studio while gaining the self-esteem that comes from seeing their designs turned into clothing styles and earning income from selling in studio stores and online.

Background

During the lonely pandemic summer of 2020, a fashion design program intended to unleash young people’s talent took root on the Lower East Side. Starting online, then in person the next summer, and in 2024 also appearing at the Artists & Fleas market in Brooklyn, Rambler Studios has opened the door to a career in fashion for approximately 60 young people.

The program, developed in Amsterdam and Berlin as an outlet for youth to express themselves through fashion, was imported to New York City by Henry Street’s Jeremy Reiss, executive vice president of partnerships and innovation. Now running yearlong, it has become a regular offering for youth in the Summer Youth Employment Program, where it functions as a paid educational internship. A Henry Street social worker is available all summer to bring holistic support, helping participants address any individual or family mental health, career, or financial needs. Rambler Studios has fast become one of Henry Street’s popular routes to an opportunity for young people ages 15 to 24 who would not otherwise have had a chance to affordably pursue this career path.

After the first season, taught remotely from Holland under the direction of founder Carmen Van der Vecht, the students now study with Andres Biel, a New York fashion designer who got his start in a Henry Street sewing class taught by the iconic sewing teacher, Ruth Taube. When Taube retired from teaching at the start of the pandemic (at the age of 97), Biel moved the Rambler studio into the Home Planning Workshop in the Vladeck Houses, where she had taught for 54 years.

Rambler Abraham said that the Rambler Studios program gave him his first exposure to sewing. “I never thought of going into fashion as a career, but now 100 percent I feel I can do it. The Rambler family gave me a joyful and safe environment to create.”

A distinctive quality of the program is its emphasis on the collective power of creativity. Students learn about working in a professional studio while gaining the self-esteem that comes from seeing their designs turned into clothing styles. For the past few years, students have unveiled their creations on the “runway” at Henry Street’s headquarters in an end-of-summer fashion showcase, with the August 23, 2023 edition even featured on NY1 News! In fall 2023 and winter 2024, the Ramblers had the chance to earn income from the sale of their work at Artists & Fleas market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The 2024 NYC Summer Program hosts another cohort of Ramblers, who will spend six weeks under the joint tutelage of Andres Biel and Carmen van der Vecht.

About Rambler Studios

Rambler Studios offers a platform and a place for young talented people ‘ramblers’, to design their own life through street fashion. Rambler Studios was founded in 2007 by Carmen van der Vecht after portraying lots of young people living on the streets in cities as London, São Paulo, and Amsterdam. Their striking outfits, which they use to express their creativity and identity, inspired her to show the world these unique street styles and powerful persons. Rambler Studios is a place for creative expression, skill development, and personal exploration where youngsters design their life through street fashion.

In collaboration with Henry Street Settlement, Rambler Studios has launched Rambler Studios New York, offering a space and a platform for creative, raw talents in New York to challenge themselves in a six-week summer internship program. By focusing on designing one’s life through fashion; participants can hone in on their creative expression, personal exploration, and skill development in the original world of street fashion.

About Henry Street Settlement

Henry Street Settlement’s mission is to open doors of opportunity for Lower East Side residents and other New Yorkers through social services, arts, and health care programs. The organization is distinguished by its commitment to listening to and learning from our neighbors—and then acting to meet the most pressing needs of our community.

To meet those needs, Henry Street Settlement offers more than 50 programs to people of all ages through its Abrons Arts Center/Visual and Performing Arts, Employment, Education, Athletics & Enrichment, Older Adult Services, Health & Wellness, and Transitional & Supportive Housing divisions. These vast programs range from preschool to Meals on Wheels delivery, job-readiness training to mental health counseling, and supportive housing to theater performances. You are encouraged to visit Henry Street Settlement’s program pages to learn more.

About Abrons Arts Center

Abrons Arts Center is a home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A core program of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons believes that access to the arts is essential for a thriving city. Through performances, exhibitions, education programs, and residencies, Abrons mobilizes communities with the transformative power of art.