From ready-to-wear crochet pieces to Mardi Gras inspired couture gowns, the African American Textile Society’s (AATS) annual fashion show didn’t disappoint.
On April 20, the AATS hosted its 28th annual Fashion Exposé in Talley State Ballroom. The AATS is an organization based in the Wilson College of Textiles that brings together students of color from diverse backgrounds and provides them support, networking opportunities, professional development opportunities and a community based in fashion and textiles. With many students being a part of Wilson College of Textiles, the AATS is a melting pot of creative and brilliant minds focused on pursuing careers in the fashion and textile industry.
Every year, during NC State’s Pan-African week, the AATS hosts its exposé, platforming emerging and experienced designers within NC State and surrounding colleges. Each year is a different theme and this year’s theme was Culture & Heritage.
This year, the show included 15 designers, with nine novice designers and six intermediate to experienced designers.
The show began with its host, Jessica Couch, welcoming the audience and giving a rundown of the show’s itinerary. After she concluded the introduction, the show began with its nine novice designers.
The novice category includes inexperienced designers with new skills and at a beginner’s level. The category included students within the Wilson College of Textiles and even a student from North Carolina A&T studying fashion merchandising.
In the novice category were Haleigh Aldridge, Victoria Barrett, Emi Colburn, Sienna Cuevas, Asia Faulk, Kristen Hurtado, Sarah Pierce, Aayushi Shah and Madina Tahirli.
Before their collections walked the stage, each designer within the novice and intermediate categories had a quick one-minute video giving an introduction of themselves, what the theme of Culture & Heritage meant to them and how it inspired their collection.
The collections were all incredibly personal and special to the designers. One designer, Victoria Barret’s collection titled “Just Dance!” was an ode to video games and moreover, the experiences and memories she made playing video games, especially Just Dance! Her collection, like many others, was filled with vibrant colors and a wide variety of textiles and fabrics.
The novice category concluded and was followed by a brief intermission, including videos from the different majors within the Wilson College of Textiles and a college professor on the intricacies of fashion and African-American history and heritage, tying together the theme of Culture & Heritage.
After the novice category, the intermediate category followed and included six designers: Allie Albrecht, Amelia Boys, Brooklyn Brown, Peter Centeno, Mae Reilly Mueller and Fred Pierce.
The intermediate category is for designers who have more experience and knowledge in designing and this category showed nothing short of that. Consisting of all Wilson College of Textiles students, with most studying Fashion & Textile Design, this category had collections with at least five outfits for each, some having as many as eight.
The intermediate category ranged from couture looks inspired by the culture of New Orleans and Mardi Gras, as seen in Brooklyn Brown & Peter Centeno’s collection “The Grande Parade,” to crochet-fabric blended looks inspired by Irish heritage and the intrinsic femininity of craft-making as seen in Amelia Boys’ collection “Stone Meets Foliage.” The outfits throughout the category exuded expertise and intentionality, showing the talent of every designer.
After a brief intermission, Couch returned to the stage for the exposé’s finale: the winner presentations. All 15 designers returned to the stage and the winners from each category were announced.
For the novice category, Madina Tahirli and her collection “Vatan” won. And in the intermediate category, Fred Piece Jr. and his “Imperium” collection won.
At the end of the show, I was able to speak with novice designer Aayushi Shah about her collection “I’m Sorry, Sari.” Shah is a second-year studying Fashion & Textile Management with a concentration in Fashion Development and Product Management.
Shah states that her collection is “saying goodbye to the Sari.” She continues: “Saris are very difficult to drape, so I’m bringing easier-to-wear garments like lehengas and patialas.”
The Nubian Message asked Shah what Culture & Heritage meant to them and how that influences their life.
Shah responded: “Culture and Heritage is everything to me. It’s who I am. Every decision I make is rooted in my culture and how I grew up, my parents [and] how they raised me. All my family is from India, all of them live there in India, so whenever I get to go there, I’m reconnected with my culture again and it just means family and home.”
