LSU’s first Black History Month Fashion Show on Feb. 22 brought out style and stars while recognizing and celebrating black designers.

The fashion show showcased young black designers that are either from or have companies based in New Orleans, Baton Rouge or other prominent cities in Louisiana. The event had music courtesy of DJ Rov and featured multiple African American students in fraternities like AKA.

The fashion show was student-led and organized by the Chair of the Black History Month Student Committee, Derrah “Dee” Scott. She worked alongside the chair of the fashion show and fashion merchandising senior, Juwan Torregano, who came up with the idea of doing a fashion show this year for Black History Month.

Even though there was a lot of stress that came along with planning the fashion show, Scott viewed it as a good challenge and learning experience.

The Black History Month Committee has put on many successful extravagant events annually. This situation, however, was different because they never put on a fashion show of this caliber.

Instead of becoming buried under the pressure leadership can carry, Scott decided to focus on the positive aspects of the situation.

“It was very different and a challenge, but a good challenge because it was something that we realized we were able to accomplish and something that’s even able to sustain within future years for future Black History Month celebrations,” Scott said.

The fashion show had a great turnout with peers, faculty and even a particularly familiar NFL player in attendance.

Alvin Kamara, running back for the New Orleans Saints, came to support his friend Tvenchy, who was showing his line “Made In The Hood” at the show. The line features staple items like bodycon dresses and hoodies with unique and creative designs sporting his brand logo.

The show also showcased brands like Maximo Apparel and World Invasion, which has casual cute designs that could be dressed up or down; Trilla Trendz who included a fun and festive hat with each look; and FRGN who showed formal wear with a flare. The show also featured Glow and Vicieux, brands that showed modern and wearable athletic inspired fashions.

Scott said the Black History Month Committee was looking for new creative and innovative ways to celebrate Black History Month this year, and the fashion show was the perfect fit.  It was even better that they were able to give local designers a platform to show their creativity.

The fashion show provided the opportunity for young designers to show the visions they had for their lines and how they made them a reality at no cost to them.

Most of the designers focus on creating clothes for Generation Z, which is essentially what comprises the University. Scott shared how she was proud that they were giving young minority designers a platform here at the University that was free.

“It’s not often where we have these types of events where young designers get to directly cater to their audience,” Scott said.

Scott also views the fashion show as an opportunity to inspire future young black designers on campus. It gives students the opportunity to see that there are young successful black designers who are able to show their designs in new and

innovative ways.

Student-led events like this allow peers to help each other discover their talent, and this event will help future the University students find inspiration within the fashion industry.

There are students on campus who consider pursuing a career in fashion and seeing people just like them achieve their goals may give them reassurance that they can do the same. In this way, the fashion show was beneficial to everyone involved.

“I think it’s important that not only are we giving them an opportunity, but they’re also giving our students an opportunity to have hope for the future,” Scott said.

When it comes to what she hopes people got out of the fashion show, Scott hopes that the event showed how much the student lead group has to offer and how they’re celebrating Black History Month in a new way.

“While we always want to continue to celebrate the civil rights activists like the Dr. Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and the Rosa Parks of the world, we also want to be able to say that Black History Month is a celebration of black art and black culture,” Scott said. “I think that highlighting designers who weren’t even thought of in the past just shows were able to give respect and reverence to the people who came before us but in our own way.”