CARLY KNASZAK
Staff Writer
Black Student Union hosted its Annual Spring Fashion Show on Sunday, April 19, in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room. The room looked as if the show came out of New York City Fashion Week, with a white catwalk and lights shining through the curtains of the entrance of the catwalk where the models came out. Students came in wearing suits and girls wearing dresses with high heels. It was definitely like stepping into Fashion Week.
The event started out with a behind the scenes video showing the models practicing their walks and group videos of members of the Black Student Union.
Ariane Davis, who stars on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, hosted the event. Davis came out with a gorgeous white romper designed by Fondrens Fashion House. Davis brought a very energetic atmosphere to the event, getting involved with the crowd and making them laugh.
“Our Vice President, Rachel James, emailed Davis’ manager, and they started emailing back and forth and we got her to come here. It’s her first time here,” Alexis Williams, treasurer of BSU and a sophomore majoring in psychology, said.
One of the first sets of the evening was called “Motherland.” Models came out in African colors of red, yellow and green with a mixture of modern and old African fashion styles. The models seemed as if they were professionals who have walked down catwalks their whole lives.
Models possessed all types of body sizes and skin colors and the models brought their own personalities to the catwalk when they would reach the end of it and strike a pose, wave to their friends or do a little energetic dance.
The second set was called “Recycling.” All the clothing items were made out of either trash bags, newspaper or duct tape. Some of the dresses looked as if they were bought from a catalogue, while others were hard to tell they were even made from recycled items until Davis announced what the clothing pieces were made out of.
“I signed up for the fashion show at Activities Night as a model,” Nicole Haynes, sophomore exercise science major said. “It was my second time doing this, and it’s always a great time and lots of fun.”
The third set of the evening was called “Girls Night Out,” and female models displayed tight fitting dresses and cute crop tops and skirts.
Another set was “Terry Mason,” in which models wore a dark-colored outfit with a bright bow tie.
A few more sets appeared on the catwalk; an intermission break took place, and DJ Wire was in charge of the music. He made the intermission into a huge dance party, getting everyone off their feet and dancing.
But as the show started up once more, it took a much more serious turn when models came out in hoodies, with their hoods up, and formed a line across the catwalk. As the models came on stage, they all raised their hands up in reference to “Hands up, don’t shoot” from the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
The powerful message brought a loud applause, with most of the people in the audience following suit and raising their hands up to the sky. Some students even stood up on their seats and put their hands up.
Other sets included “Date Night,” with couples coming out in matching outfits, and “Black Funk,” a set that included styles of the ‘90s with full-on jumpsuits and mix-and-match clothing.
“We started talking about this event last semester, and a lot of work went into it,” Williams said. “This fashion show goes back so far, I think around sixteen years or longer.”
The show was packed, and it ended with another dance party that included all the members of BSU and designers.
“It was busy but fun,” Tamika Whittick, co-event chair, sophomore biology major, said.