The Caribbean Student Association’s (CSA) annual fashion show saw over 350 attendees fill up the Jeffrey P. Hazell Athletics Center on the university’s North Campus.
The show takes place as part of the university’s Black and Latino Alumni Weekend (BLAW), which featured other events including stroll shows, Sankofa Ball, drag shows and more.
DJ Prestige returned this year to provide music for the event, with the Miss Majorettes, Incendio Dance Project and the Tropixx Dance Collective providing live dance performances.
The show’s theme this year was “Caribbeans in their element”, a theme chosen over the summer. The scale of the show requires a lot of careful planning, with CSA planning next year’s fashion show before the current year’s show takes place.
“It is a lot of planning and time, but it’s all worth it in the end,” said Miloura Francois, president of CSA.
The event had 29 models walk the runway, with eight designers having their creations displayed to those watching.
This fashion show followed the previous day’s BLAW event, which was the MX. Pride Extravaganza hosted by PRIDE.
This event also took place in the Jeffrey P. Hazell Athletics Center and saw a number of performers dressing in drag and cosplay. The Miss Majorettes performed at this show as well as other dance groups.
Some contestants for this event have been preparing since the end of fall semester, when sign ups for the event took place. The show saw multiple activities, with not only performances, but a dress category and Q&A as well.
Despite its strong performance, there were doubts during the planning process. One key concern PRIDE’s executive assistant Leo LeBlanc shared was funding.
“One of our biggest struggles as of this year was fighting to keep funding for the Extravaganza,” LeBlanc said.
The event is expensive to host, with local drag queens costing roughly $500 to book for a single performance, and some drag queens featured on RuPaul’s drag race typically costing around $10,000.
“I understand some people may find this as an ‘excessive amount’ but drag is art, and art is subjective to the artist,” LeBlanc said.
The CSA’s fashion show had its own obstacles as well.
“Obstacles are always thrown left and right for the fashion show, whether it’s getting no response from vendors and having to work with getting in contracts on time. It’s a lot, but we made sure we had a backup plan if need be,” said Francois.
Francois, who will enter her senior year in the fall, will be stepping back from her position as president of CSA, however, she still has hopes for next year’s show.
“Something I do hope for next year is more models! Every year CSA fashion show gets bigger and bigger, and I would love to see more of the campus community getting involved and wanting to try out,” said Francois.
