Kent State’s Fashion Student Organization hosted their Spring Goodwill Fashion Show, “It’s Only a Game,” on Mar. 21, where FSO members, students and family were welcomed to see talented stylists, designers and models.
The theme of this Spring’s Goodwill Fashion Show was inspired by late designer Alexander McQueen’s Spring & Summer 2005 collection.
“Let the games begin,” said Chloe Seeley, sophomore fashion merchandising major and vice president of FSO.
“In that collection, McQueen staged a life-sized chess match between America and Japan with each model representing a different chess piece,” said Seeley. “His vision was cinematic, dynamic and deeply influenced by cultures across the world.”
Rather than strictly sticking to McQueen’s chess theme, the board thought it would be fun to challenge its members to create looks from all kinds of board games. This fashion show showcased creative looks inspired by the nostalgia of games like Jumanji, Candy Land and much more.
Before the show began, faculty advisor for FSO and Kent State School of Fashion professor William Perrine shared his perspective on the organization he has run for the past 17 years.
“This is my baby, and these are my children,” Perrine said. “I couldn’t be more proud of all of the work we do.”
Perrine explained to the audience that FSO is an organization for students, by students. The work that members do as part of FSO can range anywhere from organizing fashion shows to rearranging the order of models at the last minute or even organizing guest speakers.
“All of the money that we make each year from doing things like this goes into our scholarship,” said Perrine. “We offer two 500-dollar scholarships annually. One for design and one for merchandising.”
Before and after the show, audience members had the chance to check out the three vendors located in the venue’s foyer. The vendors were Branded in Kent, Fly Brand by Clayton Flies and Van’s Vignettes by Van Weinmann.
Both Flies and Weinmann are Kent State fashion design majors. Flies is a freshman who runs a recycling-based clothing brand where he takes letters from old shirts that cannot be used anymore and sews them on new shirts. Weinmann does live fashion sketches of people’s outfits.
During the show, audience members watched in awe as looks created by the members of FSO walked across the stage and through the aisles. The models strutted to upbeat music in an array of outfits and colors.
Judges Aimon Ali, the CEO and founder of Fashion Talks, Catherine Leslie and Laura McAndrews, who are professors at the School of Fashion, watched intently while deciding who would win.
To give the judges time after the show concluded, Tanvi Patel, the treasurer of FSO, announced the winners of the giveaway prizes. Two show attendees had the chance to win a gift card to Branded in Kent or a t-shirt from Fly Brand by Clayton Flies.
The members of the FSO board also introduced themselves during this time. The board acknowledged that this was senior Aysha Durrani’s last time putting on a show as she will graduate in May.
“Aysha has done so much for FSO,” said Seeley. “She joined the board her junior year and [FSO] has grown so much because of her.”
Seeley and the other board members expressed their emotions on stage and said how sad they would be to see Durrani graduate.
“We can’t wait to see all that you accomplished,” Seeley said. “FSO will never be the same without you.”
The awards ceremony began shortly after the audience learned more about the board members. The awards announced were designer runner-up, stylist runner-up, top model, best stylist in show and designer best in show.
The winners of the awards were Tanvi Reddy with a Candy Land-inspired look, Chloe Brosch with a Twister-inspired look, Julia Franz with a chess-inspired look, Maddy Demuzio with Cards-inspired look and Zach Krohn also with a cards-inspired look.
Mallory Hughes is a reporter. Contact her at mhughe47@kent.edu.