When senior photo communications major Nereida Valles started the fashion blog Urbane Menswear in December 2009, she never dreamed that her work would get her invited to one of the industry’s biggest events.

“I really just started it for my own sake and to archive menswear that I found interesting,” Valles said.

Valles and her friend/co-writer Graciela Razo, a journalism student at The University of North Texas, were invited to attend the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City, one of the most important events in the fashion industry and the biggest one to take place in the United States. The two were invited by designer Marlon Gobel, who they had interviewed for their blog in the past.

“He said we needed to come up because he really loved what we were doing,” Valles said.

While Urbane Menswear started more as a personal blog, Valles and Razo decided to grow it into something that would have a larger appeal for men everywhere. Valles said that the main goal of their blog is to serve as a sort of inspiration for men “who want to be more outgoing with what they