As temperatures rise and the sun shines on Fresno State’s campus, students are breaking out their sandals and tank tops to enjoy the springtime heat.

One club on campus is especially excited about this weather because it means shopping, styling and designing.

Fashion Inc. creates a space for students to explore fashion from all aspects. From styling to modeling and PR to design, the club provides an outlet for every student to express his or her creativity.

Ashlyn Davis is a sophomore theater arts major who is focusing on acting. When she added her minor in fashion merchandising and joined Fashion Inc. this semester, Davis said she found a way to bring acting and fashion together.

“With acting, I feel like you do have to have some sense of style,” Davis said. ”I just want to have styling as a side career of my acting career, and I would like to style celebrity types of actresses.”

Davis said she is especially excited for the upcoming Fashion Inc. fashion show, “Lights, Camera, Fashion!” which will feature over 80 models. Each stylist or designer that is showing a collection has drawn inspiration from a specific movie. Davis was inspired by “Boys in the Hood” because it was set in her hometown.

“I felt like I was better off going [with the film set in Los Angeles] because I have more experience with LA fashion,” Davis said.

Fashion is more than a career choice for Davis. She said fashion can enhance a person’s self confidence.

“Fashion is very important to me because I feel that when people are dressing themselves, it’s a way of representing themselves to other people,” Davis said. “I feel that when I’m styling someone, I like to dress them in an outfit they feel confident in. I feel that it can boost people’s self-esteem.”

Many people do not know the difference between styling and designing, but the terms are not interchangeable. Carolyn Maxwell, senior fashion merchandising major and president of Fashion Inc., said original styles and designs will be featured in the fashion show.

“Designing is starting from scratch. They come up with the concept, and then they create their garments from scratch. They get the material, cut the material and then sew the material,” Maxwell said. “A stylist is someone who takes pieces that are already existing and puts them together in a fashionable way that looks good.”

Maxwell said designers, stylists and models will be featured in the fashion show.

Since she specializes in jewelry, Maxwell said she is most excited for the upcoming trends in accessories this spring.

“Coming from an accessories standpoint…  the biggest, hands down, trend for spring is hoop earrings. I have been seeing girls putting them in their second hole of their ear and a stud in the front, so kind of backwards styling of the hoops,” Maxwell said. “Other accessory trends for spring are, of course, florals. We’ll be seeing more small floral prints, I think, for this season — versus last season we saw bigger floral prints.”

After more than three years in Fashion Inc., Maxwell has developed a strong connection to the club that she said has helped her express her individuality.

“Fashion is important to me because it provides someone the chance to show their personality without really having to say anything,” Maxwell said. “It gives me a chance to be more edgy without having to change my lifestyle. It’s a good way to express yourself.”

Another student who will feature her work in the fashion show is Krystal Smith. She is a junior costume design major who is making all of her pieces from scratch.

“My connection to fashion is through costuming,” Smith said. “I’m really bad at following trends, per se, but I am really good at research and finding out what looks good on certain people.”

Though it usually takes months for the average costume designer to create a new piece of clothing, Smith said her training in the Fresno State costume shop has taught her to work fast.

“Usually it takes a few months [to make something] but since I just joined the club this spring, I have to make everything [for my collection] in the time that I had,” Smith said. “It takes me about four to six hours to make each outfit. I’m really fast because I work at the costume shop at Fresno State, so I’m sewing constantly.”

Many costume and fashion students are interested in becoming professional stylists and designers for human clothes. Smith has a different idea.

“I would like to be a costume designer for TV shows, but what I really want to do is work for Matel and design Barbie dolls,” Smith said.

Taylor Castro, a senior fashion merchandising major, doesn’t style or design clothes. Her job in the club, and career goal, is to serve as the fashion public relations coordinator.

“Every time someone finds out you’re in fashion merchandising they think ‘Oh, you want to design clothes or you want to be a stylist,’ but not really,” Castro said. “I really fell in love with [public relations].”

Castro is in charge of the club’s social media accounts. She said she has been busy promoting the fashion show, so she won’t be showing a collection at this years show.

The seventh annual “Lights, Camera, Fashion!” will be free to students on April 1 at 6:15 p.m. in the Satellite Student Union.