Last Friday night, more than 400 people swarmed to Davol Square to attend one of the University鈥檚 most anticipated events of the year: Fashion@Brown鈥檚 annual runway show 鈥� their largest one to date.
The show has always drawn excitement from students, but this year's spectacle achieved an unparalleled scale and scope. Over 30 designers and 100 models came together to work with the organization鈥檚 more than 600 members and 12 teams to produce a showcase of fashion and fun.
F@B President Ellie Karniadakis 鈥�24 highlighted how this year鈥檚 runway expanded beyond its past scope, as Brown and RISD collaborated for the first time with Yale and Parsons. 鈥淚nnovation happens when there is collaboration,鈥� Karniadakis said, noting how excited she was to 鈥渇eature their designs in our show鈥� and 鈥渆xpand F@B鈥檚 reach to a greater audience.鈥�
The evening began with a shock as the runway鈥檚 first models, wearing collections from Yale and Parsons designers, emerged in all-black, full-body clothing that covered their faces entirely.
As the night went on, the audience witnessed an outstanding array of designs and styles. Ball gowns were followed by students in altered Brown sports kits while capes, veils, bonnets and electronically illuminated dresses all came together to create a dream-like explosion of color and creativity.
Designers employed a variety of props 鈥� ranging from disco balls to umbrellas 鈥� that complimented the outfits. Chloe Chow 鈥�26鈥檚 collection in particular used a prop with every design to illustrate her theme of superstitions, including a girl in a green dress holding a knit four-leaf clover and another model in copper holding a penny.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the show was when one model had not one, not two, but four outfit changes throughout his walk, eliciting loud gasps and laughs as he was left wearing hardly anything but a pair of red underwear reading 鈥渇orever alone.鈥�
Lola Byrd 鈥�27, who attended the show, said that Nora Cowett 鈥�24鈥檚 collection was her favorite, particularly liking 鈥渉er use of shape and fit.鈥�
Cowett鈥檚 collection, 鈥淎muse Yeux鈥� playfully experimented with form, shape and pattern combinations, incorporating layering, purples and greens. One of the most 鈥渞eady to wear鈥� collections of the show, it demonstrated Cowett鈥檚 desire to 鈥渕ake things that people will actually want to wear and contribute positively to their lives and self-image.鈥�
Cowett, who makes all of her designs herself 鈥� turning 鈥渉er room into half bedroom, half studio鈥� 鈥� explained how, for this collection, she 鈥渞eally wanted to get rid of the seriousness and bring the joy and fun back into fashion that I feel like I鈥檝e over-complicated maybe in my own life.鈥�
Another collection that was undoubtedly a crowd favorite was senior director of design at F@B Phoebe Dragseth 鈥�24鈥檚 鈥楤lanc Noir.鈥�
Student attendee Alexa Moses 鈥�27 said she 鈥渓oved the architecture of her clothing,鈥� which speaks to Dragseth鈥檚 goal to 鈥渂ridge (her) degree in mathematics with (her) love of fashion design.鈥�
Dragseth recently participated in February's New York Fashion Week, which pushed her to 鈥減ivot her collection鈥� in new directions by 鈥渁dding in five pieces all tied to geometry and multidimensional spaces.鈥�
Like Cowett, this was Dragseth鈥檚 fourth time showcasing her work. The graduating senior described how, for her last contribution to the runway show, she wanted to touch upon the anxieties students feel about 鈥渉aving no idea what the future will hold.鈥�
Her entirely black-and-white collection plays upon the expectation that 鈥渁fter four years of school, everything will become clear鈥� and experiments with 鈥渂ecoming okay with uncertainty.鈥�
鈥淭his is the biggest show we鈥檝e ever done, and it sold out in like 15 seconds,鈥� Dragseth said, expressing her pride at how much the club had accomplished throughout her four years at Brown.
While the talent of the designers was what was primarily on display, the show also required extensive logistical planning to make everything run smoothly.
Karniadakis stressed how 鈥渉undreds and thousands of hours (were) put into making the show.鈥�
Events Director Mia Dominguez 鈥�27 explained that 鈥渨e had to find all the models, do dress rehearsals, coordinate all the hair and makeup, book the venue, meet with fire marshals, put up chairs, lighting, drapery 鈥� all that stuff,鈥� she said.
Despite this, Dominguez emphasized how rewarding it was to see how 鈥渨hen everything came together with music, lights and the energy of the space, all the models really came into that confidence and owned the runway, just having fun and looking fierce up there.鈥�
鈥淚 know a lot of design schools spend two years working on their senior collection, and a lot of times, they don鈥檛 even get a runway show,鈥� Dragseth said. 鈥淎nd we have a sold-out show 鈥� that鈥檚 huge!鈥�
Cowett and Dragseth鈥檚 designs can be viewed on Instagram at @bynoracowett and @dragsethdesigns, respectively.
Rose Farman-Farma is a Freshman Comparative Literature concentrator from England who loves writing and music.
