On March 21, the Black Artists Coalition (BAC) held a fashion show at the Witherspoon Student Center. The fashion show’s theme was Black fashion throughout the decades.
Henoc Dossou, the president of the BAC organized the event and designed two of the outfits. He opened the show by explaining the BAC’s purpose, “And you don’t know what the Black Arts Coalition is. It is a club that creates a space for POC artists to collaborate, develop and showcase results.”
He closed his introduction by saying, “Every spring we do a fashion show and this time I’m doing it a little differently. So what I did was choose a theme, gathered models together and had them collaborate with artists to create interpretations of the theme and now it’s a fashion showcase.”
The Nubian Message was able to interview Lauren Singletary, Michael Opoku, Kendall Brown, Noah Mlingo, and Zania Sanders.
The Nubian Message: Why did you decide to participate in the show?
Lauren Singletary: Honestly, Henoc asked me, and I was like, “Sure, why not?” There was no underlying reason.
Michael Opoku: So funny enough — and it was really sudden — I just went to the MSA to do a show, and two other friends were like, “Oh, you should do it,” and I’ve modeled before for the African Student Union, so why not?
Kendall Brown: Well, I’ve always kind of been into fashion a little bit. In my undergrad, I was sort of known for showing up and showing out a little bit in my outfits. And I was like, “Why not?” It’s my first semester here, and I was like, “Why not just jump on this?”
Noah Mlingo: Well, actually, someone came up to me and asked me to participate. And I was like, ‘Sure. Why not?’ I’ve never done one before, so this is my first time.
Zania Sanders: I decided to participate in this fashion show because we definitely have an influence on fashion — through K-pop culture, others — like ethnic studies and race — even through dance, through different eras, like “Soul Train” and whatnot. So we always had an influence on culture in general, so I wanted to bring that back, especially like what’s going on now in the present day, to show that I am proud of the change in fashion through the different eras.
TNM: What makes this show special and unique?
LS: I think a lot of the focus of the show was specifically on, like, people of color throughout these decades because a lot of times that’s not the area of fashion and art and whatnot that we see. And I think that’s why it was very important to me.
KB: It really showcases the diversity when it comes to Black fashion, especially over the years, and how our culture has really been reduced down to things like “ghetto” and “trashy,” and it brings things down, so it’s really weird.
ZS: I was repping the 1950s fashions for African American women. It is significant for me because during that time, a lot of Black women didn’t have many rights to say anything per se in their household, and what they could wear today. In the fashion show I was a lady in red because red was seen as grown, especially in the African American community, so I thought it would be cool to do. Instead of seeing a white woman in red, the lady in red would be a Black woman.
TNM: What were some inspirations and influences in your design?
LS: I pulled on biker fashion and Black rock from the 80s because it was really hard for me to find something that was really representative of the 80s. Personally, I am not a huge fan of this decade in terms of fashion, but I pulled on, like, biker rock and a little bit of hip hop influence.
MO: I was going for like a really late-night-type jazz club, you know, like smokey, woody tobacco, like cigars. I just thought about jazz clubs, so I just want to go sexyish — you know, satin shirts.
KB: With the hairstyle, I was like, okay, I know I’m not gonna have to hurt my hair or straighten it. So I was like, let me just Alicia Keys. Do some Alicia Keys, right there? Maybe some Erykah Badu. And then the outfit, I was literally just like, “What did my sister used to wear?” And I was like, I barely remember, but I know it was mostly jeans and then some Jessica Simpson.
NM: I had some Rick Owens pieces: the shoes and my hoodie. Rick’s my favorite designer, so I like matching his pieces together, and then I feel like the baggage I use them with, like, the 2010s aesthetic. I kind of like incorporating those together.
ZS: What really inspired me was the song “Head on My Shoulder”, which was around 1959. And when I think about that, and like the trend people are always doing, like a red-like backdrop, and so it just made me think of a lady in red.
TNM: What were some challenges or obstacles that you faced while preparing for this show?
LS: I love being a friend of a crowd, but the biggest challenge for me was definitely finding my outfit to begin with. I played with a lot of colors, textures and different looks before I settled on what you ended up seeing today.
MO: I think the coordination was shaky and, like, I didn’t really know what to expect. I know a lot of people kind of dropped out of nowhere, just kind of sudden. I didn’t know whether the show was gonna be canceled. So that was the main struggle with it. But I’m glad we turned out.
KB: Well, for one finding really was mostly just like finding clothes. Because I was like, I was like, okay, I’m gonna go to a thrift store. Let’s see what they have. And I have no idea what I was gonna wear, besides just jeans, something. And I was like, ‘let me just find stuff and have this scour through the whole place.’ So yeah, it was mostly finding the outfit.
NM: I feel like the first idea I had of my outfit was kind of basic. So I think, like, my biggest hurdle was trying to, like, spice it up, make it look better.
ZS: I guess the outfit, getting here on time and getting all the accessories, although I didn’t have all the accessories. I definitely wanted to influence and wear significant accessories from back in the day, like wearing pearls. I didn’t get that in time, but I still made it work with some gold jewelry.
TNM: In your opinion, what was the best part of the show?
LS: I think it was kind of a confidence booster. I enjoyed walking. I’ve never modeled before, so that was probably my favorite part.
MO: I think the modeling part, when we actually found a stage and like one by one, I think Kendall was my favorite out of all of us.
KB: Of course, the size of the show itself. It was really rehearsals, because I really got to see everybody try to like show their confidence, and we got to see people give some good advice on the people who had no idea what to do and they really do it and just show how like even the newest models can even look like they got it on. That’s what I’ll say.
NM: The best part of the show? Just getting the experience, because like I said, I’ve never done anything like modeling fashion before, but it’s something I’m into. So I was glad I got to participate.
ZS: People coming up to me after the show and the compliments. And the song going together with the outfit and feeling like a celebrity.
