The Black Student Alliance put on their annual fashion show this past Friday, February 6. The show, Change Clothes, featuring designs from Tyrone Chablis, EN.U New York, MP Sportswear, and Accessories DuJour. I heard stories about the Black Students Association Fashion show before I went from people who attended past ones, so I prepped up for a wild time with crazy outfits.
Before even arriving at the McNeil room, the first thing I recognized was the blasting music. The selection of music was fun and upbeat. I definitely wanted to dance the whole time. I got there at 7:30…and then I waited and waited. After sitting for about an hour and a half, I started to get tired of waiting.
The fashion show started two hours late due to the weather. At about forty minutes past 8, someone finally told the audience why the fashion show had not started yet. The designers couldn’t get to RPI with the clothes, which was understandable.
Finally, it started. To my surprise there was a Black National Anthem. I never realized there was one, being Chinese. After that, the first line of clothes was shown. All I can say is…wow…I never realized that clothes could be that transparent without showing too much.
Several of the outfits were made of fur. Real-looking foxes were used as scarves for topless males and accessories for women’s clothes—animals’ rights activists would be all over this! After a brief break came the sporty clothes from MP Sportswear, and there were definitely girls modeling really short shorts, which I am sure the guys all loved. Oh wait, I almost forgot! Between the two clothing lines, there was an “intermission” featuring two guys and two girls doing a raunchy scene. Wow! I can say I wasn’t prepared for that.
All of the scenes were definitely played to work with the music that accompanied it. Music from Ashante, Jay Z, and R. Kelly certainly set the stage for some interesting interactions between models. The lingerie scene definitely took some gutsy models to pull off, but was surely worth the reaction of the crowd.
The student-created production surely tool a lot of work to put together to get designers to provide the clothes, organize the scenes with music, models, and interactions, and organize the stage, music and more.
Overall the fashion show was fun and its reputation is sustained. I liked the set up a lot. The MC was lively and kept the audience entertained during the show, despite the delays. The Black Students Alliance is donated half their proceeds to Clothe-a-Child foundation. The show surprised, intrigued, and ultimately shocked me.
Plans for the next annual show include arrangements to ensure they start on time. Also they plans to continue donating their proceeds to charity. As long as they keep it fun and hip it will surely be a success.
