Amanda Brail – News Reporter –
The “F.A.C.E. the Future” Spring 2013 Fashion Show presented by the Black Student Union gave local designers a chance to show off their latest lines.
The Lyman Center was filled on Saturday, April 13 with young adults dressed in the latest trends, seeking out what is to come next in the world of fashion.
Rebecca Mette, 19, from Wallingford, said she liked a lot more of the designs than she expected to.
“I really enjoyed it,” said Mette. “A lot of the designs were so on-trend and were higher quality than I expected. I want to go find out where I can buy what I just saw.”
Others such as Antonio Harper from West Haven, said he was less than impressed with what he saw.
“I’m a really tough critic so I’d say that it’s lacking,” he said. “Some actual fashion could really pick it up, but I did like the Resort Line.”
Harper was referring to the line designed by Aquila Yannis and Niramo Omari Nibbs, one of the 9 collections that were shown on Saturday. Other lines included “Jean Envy” designed by Margaret Green, “The Blaze Collection” designed by Desiree Sessions, the “MURDER$HEWROTE” line, and the “UnAmerican” line designed by locals Kevin Hoff and Brandon Naylor.
Hoff, from Hamden, Conn., said that he was happy to have the opportunity to show off his designs so close to his home.
“As a designer,” he said, “I feel like any way my product can be out there I should go for it.”
Hoff also said that him and his co-designer, Naylor, have been working hard to let people know about their line; they already participated in a fashion show at University of Bridgeport this past year.
“It’s important to get your name out there,” said Hoff, “because whenever you have people you don’t know it’s good for them to just remember the name of our line in case they come across it again.”
Tay Humber Ceo and Janay Prim, designers of the IODI line said they also jumped at the opportunity to participate in the event.
“We want to get our line out there and have people see it,” said Prim. “This is a great opportunity to do that.”
Despite confusing transitions throughout the show and a late start, the crowd at the Lyman Center stayed enthusiastic for each designer; clapping and cheering for each model as they showed off their fashions and participating in a lot of crowd-MC interaction. The 26 models also helped to get the crowd excited by clapping down the runway and striking off-the-cuff poses at the end of their walks. Models of all shapes and sizes participated in the show, which also seemed to please the crowd.
“I loved the models,” said Mette. “I was frustrated with all of the in between time, but seeing how great the models looked and their diverse bod-types made it really unique.”
F.A.C.E. models walked the runway wearing the latest designs from local fashion designers.
The designers also were happy with the crowd’s enthusiasm.
“This is our first time at Southern,” said Ceo. “It looks like there’s a nice amount of people out there!”
“I’ve done a couple other fashion shows,” said Hoff, “but this one had a really good turnout, there’s a lot of positive energy, and we’ve gotten some really good feedback.”
Hoff said he was so pleased with the outcome that he plans to come back next year, as well.
“We’re definitely going to do it next year,” he said. “It’s definitely helping to get the word out about our line.”
