EMT presents fashion show

A stylish crowd rushed in from the chilly weather Friday. Clad in plaid coats with coordinated scarves, berets and fur trimmed hats, they lined up eagerly at the stroke of 6:30 p.m. outside the Willkie Auditorium.

They were ready to see S.W.A.G.

“Stylish, Wearable And Gorgeous’, presented by the Epiphany Modeling Troupe, was the group’s first fashion showcase of the year.

Passion and enthusiasm for the show were visible Friday, as each seat in the fashionably transformed auditorium was filled with attendees. They cheered and shouted to models as they confidently posed and walked the runway.

The show followed precedent for past EMT shows and was far from the typical runway show. The night was organized in a series of eight scenes, each highlighting a different trend or style.

The scenes each had titles that meant more than they seemed, similar to the acronym title of the show.

“All the scenes in the show had an underlying meaning. For example, one scene was Print Quota, which in college is the count of paper, but to us it was about prints such as zebra, cheetah and tiger,” said Lauran Sanders, public relations coordinator for EMT.

From the first scene, Ruffle Roulette, which highlighted the ruffle trend, to the final Sugar Coated scene, which displayed winter coats, the audience got a diverse taste of looks for the upcoming season.

Ciera Rowe, president of EMT, said the high point of the show was during intermission.

Rather than letting the crowd sit in the seats in silence, EMT board members facilitated a best-dressed contest between audience members.

Seven attendees were called onstage, and they were narrowed down to three. The winner was chosen from the top three after a walk off.

Sophomore Kyandra Hysaw said this part of the show was her favorite.

“I like getting the chance to see regular people showcase their own style. And it’s interactive,” Hysaw said.

Rowe agreed with this sentiment.

“It was a lot of fun to see the crowd so involved with that part of the show and to see them having a good time made us all really happy and grateful,” she said.

Intermission also featured IU Essence, a hip-hop dance group, as well as Lin Z, a local
recording artist.

The attraction of fashion still resonated, however, as both acts were wearing designs by local designer Trent Lloyd for Rotten Scoundrel.

Despite the differences between Epiphany shows and the typical fashion show, there is one common thread that makes both function: the models. Many EMT board members said it was the models for this show that made it such a success.

Most of the models walking in Friday’s show were new to EMT, Sanders said, so this gave them a chance to practice all that they had learned. 

This new membership led to greater enthusiasm for the show on the models’ part, according to Rowe, and it lead to a more successful show in the long run.

“I feel this one was a much bigger success due to the fact that the show was such a buzz around campus,” Rowe said. “I had a lot of people come up to me personally saying how excited they were about the show and how they had heard great things about it from the models.”