This Sunday, April 27, the TU Fashion club played with the motifs of traditional corporate wear in their annual fashion show. Entitled “Bull and Bear,” the fashion show drew “inspiration from the financial markets and corporate structures” while incorporating modern designs and challenging the norms of inclusivity in the financial sector.
The show took place on the second floor of the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, which was transformed into a high-fashion runway, with attendees seated in two rows spanning the conference hall. As guests awaited the show to commence at 7 p.m., they were invited to peruse several stands at the entrance hosted by the fashion show’s numerous business sponsors such as Poppi and Kendra Scott.
Georgia Wilson, owner of local business The Bead Shop, set up an interactive jewelry-making stand outside the event. Collaborating with the fashion show as a sponsor, Wilson commented on the experience, “I love Tulane and the students. [The fashion show is] a gateway to the business world with a fashion scene.” Accompanying the business stands was also a red-carpet experience equipped with an interviewer and photo opportunities.
The fashion show began with a word from the founder of their partner, Runway of Dreams, who expressed her mission to make fashion more accessible to all. This year’s runway featured 18 unique looks on a diverse range of models, each piece paying homage to different corporate themes with names such as “market crash” and “the intern.” The designers — current Tulane students — experimented with a variety of designs and cuts to enhance their looks, such as “chained to the desk,” which incorporated items of clothing suspended by metallic chains, and “ladies who lunch,” which explored the stereotypical frills associated with its namesake.
Designer Rylee-Ann Roberts explained a little more about her creative process regarding the dress design entitled “the fashion column,” which consisted of sewing together different financial newspapers. “[The piece is] just a dress [with] the sewed [on]] paper. I worked on it a little bit in class but I’d just fold paper randomly.” The result was a dress made of a meticulously sewn and folded collection of newspapers, all describing different financial news.
This year’s fashion show had many firsts, including the club’s collaboration with Runway of Dreams and the addition of new sponsors. The show’s success was the product of the hard work put in by its executive team, designers, models and members. The sense of community and pride amongst its members was palpable during the post-show speech by its executive members, which commemorated their hard work and celebrated the seniors, many of whom make up the fashion show’s management and executive team.