Soukeyna Diouf, a sophomore at Howard University, walked down the illuminated runway, swinging her arms in a rhythm that matched the movement of her hips. She appeared not to be walking, but gliding. Diouf wore a white, netted, and transparent dress that touched her ankles; anyone would notice her undergarments, but her confidence beat her insecurities.
“I felt like if I could pull this off, I could pull anything off,” Diouf said. “The clothes are like
accessories to the human. (They don’t) make the human, the human make the clothes.”
Students and alumni of Howard University packed the darkened Cramton Auditorium in a rush to find the best seat to see various classmates like Diouf showcase unique fashion lines from visiting designers.
The fashion show was among the first events of Howard’s homecoming weekend and gave upand-coming designers a platform to present their work.
While most designers were local, some traveled to the District to be a part of Howard’s homecoming celebration. Carlos Antione, creative director of AntVione, traveled from Atlanta, Georgia where he developed a semi-formal dress line for women.
The fashion show explored more than aestheticism, however; it also touched on current social and political movements involving race. “Untitled to United” was the overall theme of the show as designers, students, and alumni came together to experience how fashion can be a catalyst for the transformation of the black experience in America.
Upon entering the auditorium, the line of people to be seated stretched from inside the door and passed two academic buildings. Over a thousand people filled the auditorium, most of whom were students and younger alumni dressed as if they were about to walk down the runway themselves.
“The fashion climate here is to do the most for every event,” said Keenah Mays, a sophomore. “People always gotta dress up for every little thing. Even for a 10 a.m. bio class.”
The show had four major parts that characterized social movements: innocence, discrimination, rage, and solidarity. Each phase showed a selection from the 16 designers in the show. The designs were unique, but many overlapped in form. Army apparel became constant towards the end of the second part of the show, which was discrimination, and throughout the third part which was rage.
Bradley Douglas Jordan, a designer known for creating contour masks, dressed his models in mostly black apparel. Some wore rhinestone-embellished masks modeled after the world renowned designer’s, Maison Margiela. “I took (his) and did my own take on it,” Jordan said.
One of Jordan’s models was also wearing a choker necklace made to hold red bullets while another model was wearing a turtle shell shaped armor. “I am very influenced by social events happening,” Jordan said. “It’s always in the news and I want to shed some light on that.”
Antoine did not intend on showing pieces that reflected current social or political movements in the show but said he would in the future. “There is an artistic way to get what you have to say done,” Antoine said. “Beyonce does it, Rihanna does it, we all do it.”
An interlude occurred between the second and third parts of the show. Three ballerinas came out from behind the white curtain, and danced to a Beyonce song that contained the lyrics: “Freedom, Freedom, I can't move, freedom cut me loose.” After a series of jumps and stomps, the dancers held up signs with the phrase, “Black lives matter.” The audience exploded with praise.
The grand finale was a part of the fourth phase: solidarity. Howard University’s choir appeared on opposite sides of the runway. The lights brightened and the mood of the event changed from hardship, to peace. The choir members wore all white and the sound of an organ filled the auditorium along with voices that sung, “We’re on an ultralight beam, this is a God’s dream.”
A model showcasing the line, Lillie Designs, appeared from behind the white curtain in a white embroidered gown that hugged her curves. By the enhanced gasps of the crowd, this dress was a showstopper. The bottom half of the gown expanded into a long ruffled train from her knee, causing the model to take small steps.
“I loved the dress so much,” said Mays. “It looked hard to walk in though, but still really different and pretty.”
All of the designers’ clothes illustrated both the different phases of the show and essentially the black liberation movement, bringing the tone from innocence to experience, and from frustration to triumph.
“The finale gave the fashion show, I guess, a hopeful tone for the future” Mays said. “The choir really sold it with their song choice along with the white dresses worn by black models. It was refreshing.