Overview: Hive Fashion is a MacArthur funded program designed to connect members of the Hive Learning Network with fashion industry professionals. One of the main goals of Hive Fashion is incubating innovation.

1) Interest Powered: Hive Fashion supports teens with fashion-related interests and connects them to mentors and industry partners who help nurture and develop interests in fashion from multiple entry points

2) Peer Supported: Much of the program is structures, but teens can socialize with their peers and other participants from around the city with the same interests.

3) Academically Oriented: This partnership allows teens to build the technical skills and provide real world validation for their products, but also gives them the opportunity to see how these skills are applied in a professional setting and experience first-hand the artistic/career challenges associated with producing specified products for a target audience. Through this and other projects, teens connect with artists/designers/stylists who have furthered their own interests in fashion through higher ed and careers. They also promote skill building through "badges" to make mastery visible and help students develop initial skills and advance/develop them. They also learn how to make their ideas culturally and socially relevant to their lives.  and  The stylists and mentors are students number one source.

4) Shared Purpose: The focused projects in the program allow the teens to work with adult mentors and work on completing a project goal, simple or lengthy/multi-phase, it doesn't matter. Youth can work with both peers and adults to build skills/projects. Design challenges help develop cohesion among participants and mobilize their interests while producing something they themselves made.  

5) Production-Centered: They focus on production as a means of building skills and achieving goals in both large and small projects. Mentors provide individual support for the development of technical skills through the design and production of photos, blog posts, images, and actual garments. 

6) Openly Networked: The Hive Fashion iRemix site gives teens the opportunity to connect online with both peers and mentors. The iRemix site is a CLOSED social network allowing teens to connect and providing a space to showcase their work, provide critiques, and coordinate projects/ideas. Projects at all stages of development are curated in galleries on the iRemix site. Their profiles display their participation and skill mastery badges. They can also export their iRemix work to public sites like Tumblr, Facebook, and the Style Bias blog. Mentors use social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to connect with the teens, showcase their work and promote Hive Fashion activities.