Black Women Striving Forward (BWSF) student organization held a premiere fashion show Thursday night, March 28, in the Apollo Room, themed New York’s Fashion Week. The show featured three student designers that were judged on presentation, uniqueness, posture of models and creativity.
The Apollo Room had a big stage, bright lights, a panel of judges near the end of the runway and DJ 4 Seasons who played some of the latest hip-hop songs. A slide show played on a big projector behind the stage that allowed people to see the E-board members of BWSF and it gave a short biography of the designers. Emcees Amber and Christian entered the stage energetic and strived to keep the audience upbeat by making jokes and encouraging audience interaction. During the middle of the show they had a catwalk battle of audience participants who got the chance to come on stage and strut down the runway. After all participants were done, the audience decided whom they liked best.
The first act opened with two male models reenacting popular P.Diddy songs. Models were mostly in groups of three while their clothes included ripped jeans and bold colors. Most of the songs played during the models’ catwalk down the runway were songs that were upbeat and could be played at a party. Some model trios displayed a few choreographed dance steps to the rhythm of the beat.
For some songs, models re-enacting what was being described while still keeping their composure and walk. For example, during rapper Future’s love song “No Matter What,” one male model first came out on the stage and then a female followed, by the end of the runway they were holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes while still showing off their garments.
The second act’s theme was from the movie “The Wiz.” All of the models wore outfits that related to the movie, including: Dorothy, the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. The models also re-enacted a short skit from the movie as well. Models walked down the runway wearing all green outfits, then all red outfits and then all gold outfits. Songs that went with this included Lil Wayne’s “Good Kush and Alcohol,” John Legend’s “Green Light” and Trinidad James’s “Gold Everything.”
The last designer was last year’s winner Monee Pastel, whose theme was black and white. At the beginning of her act a short video played about her life, her line and her models. Each model came out on the stage wearing either or both black and white. Outfits included dresses, jumpsuits, shorts that had patterns or solids. A lot of the models had cutouts. When the models strutted down the runway and reached the end they posed as if a photographer were taking photos. Each pose was longer than a typical pose, and involved them moving their body in abstract angles; one model bent her back almost to the ground.
Monee Pastel came in first for the second year in a row, the VIVA Models came in second and Noreeka and Freddie came in third. Each act had a different style of presence on the stage. However, all three designers kept the crown entertained. Audience members were cheering on students and seemed to be having a lot of fun.
“Next year I look forward to continuing to improve the fashion show,” BWSF E-board member Jade Hogan said. “I got a lot of compliments from people that it was fun and not too long and the designers even said that they really felt special."
