Students for the Advancement of Afrikan-American Culture (SAAAC) is hosting their annual fashion show at 7 p.m. on April 12 in the Capital Center.
SAAAC has been putting on a fashion show for over ten years, but this group was previously known for their step-dance show, which was just as popular with the university and community.
The past couple of years have ended with great success for the show.
They typically end up with standing room only due to the high numbers of alumni and family members that join the students for the show. While they have made some changes throughout the years, they maintain the same overall message of the event: empowerment.
“The mission of SAAAC is to empower students of color and their allies. The fashion show is one of the ways SAAAC brings their mission to life,” Alexis Murphy, senior fashion show coordinator, said.
Creating a fashion show is not just putting on clothes and walking down a stage, it has many different aspects that could be easy to overlook.
They spend time choosing a theme, doing model calls, choosing music, coming up with scene ideas, and working with vendors and other groups on campus. The show itself requires the attention of many different people, such as photographers, models, videographers, designers, and coordinators.
Last year, SAAAC involved a couple of models from The Ohio State University, involving more of the Columbus community. They have an abundance of support from other groups on campus and even other college campuses around the city.
“[The fashion show] allows the members and the Capital community to express themselves in ways we typically wouldn’t on a day-to-day basis and brings us together,” Murphy said.
All Capital students are highly encouraged to participate in the event, as either models, photographers, videographers, DJs, lighting crew members, dressers, or even designers. Every role is an important piece in the overarching success of the fashion show.
The initial planning process started in October.
The committee then chose all of the various theme components between then and the beginning of winter break. Spring semester is filled with long hours of training and practice right up until the day of the show. With a little more than two months until the show, the closet checks are being performed and the vendors are completely finalized.
“My personal favorite part [of the fashion show] is the satisfaction of a successful show when it is all over. The crowd is always supportive, and the models are excited to show off what we all have been working towards,” Murphy said.
The show doesn’t just have the end goal of empowerment, but also friendship between people of various backgrounds and majors.
SAAAC is still looking for videographers to participate in the show.
Tickets for the show will be sold at the door, free to Capital students with a valid ID and $5 for everyone else. SAAAC will also be taking donations for their book scholarship that was started last year. Proceeds from the tickets will also be going toward this fund.
