Runway 2023 will take place at the Athletic Center on April 28, and 29 at 7 p.m. The annual fashion show showcases the work of senior fashion students' last collection they create at the university. The fashion program typically hosts over 1,000 students, families, and members of the community to witness all three fashion programs work together.
Senior fashion design majors begin researching ideas for the collection in the summer and work throughout the school year to execute their designs for Runway. Senior fashion design major Sophia Mark says students spend many sleepless nights working on their collection. “Many people pull many all-nighters, crying over their collections to get them done,” said Mark.
Senior Emmanuella Brempong says focusing on time management is important for finalizing the collections. “A lot of us thought that we would have so much time because we're given the whole year to work on it,” said Brempong. “But it creeps on you so quickly. I remember sitting in September just doing sketches like when it was just an idea. Time management is definitely important, making sure that you're on top of everything.”
Brempong’s collection “Fabricated Lie” is based on the flag of Ghana. “I've broken down the colors of the flag into two different meanings to kind of represent the realization and the reality of the Western world's impact on Africa,” said Brempong.
“Fabricated Lie” features colors from the Ghana flag. Red represents the fight for freedom, gold represents mineral wealth, and green represents Ghana’s natural resources. The black star in the flag represents the Black community; Ghana was one of the first African countries to gain independence from colonization. “What I've done is I've created garments for each color, and similar silhouettes, but kind of opposite styling techniques,” said Brempong.
Brempong says that her collection features both the glamorization and the reality of colonization. “I've made garments on the glam side, they're all pretty, you know, prim and proper, which represents civilization things like that,” said Brempong. “Then the gory side is the reality of what's actually happening in Ghana. so, all the garments are the opposite, cut up, torn, intentionally and dirtied to kind of portray the harsh reality of colonization.”
Senior fashion design major Sophia Mark’s collection “2007” is streetwear based on the architecture of bridges. Mark based her collection off her first school project she did in kindergarten. “When I was in kindergarten, I lived in New York City, and one of the first projects for kindergarteners was to go around New York City and look at all the bridges,” said Mark. “So, I wanted to tie in my first project to my last project in school.”
Mark’s family shares her love of fashion and has worked in the industry. Mark says she is looking forward to showing them her collection at the fashion show. “I'm mostly excited for them to see my skills and get recognition from my family like… I did the whole collection, and this is all the amazing work that I did.”