Wayne State artists organized and performed a garden-themed fashion show at The Eastern in Detroit on Sunday.
The Botanical Gardens fashion show exhibited local clothing designers, vendors and local musicians in a night of entertainment and class.
Attendee Angel Jordan commended the host, social media organizer Jalen Archer, on his engagement with the audience.
“I love how they (event organizers) incorporated the audience and got us participating with the host,” Jordan said.
Audiences were able to participate in their best model walks down the stage and a “Best Dressed in the Room” contest, where audience members could decide who was the best dressed in the audience. The winner got their own walk on the stage.
WSU students Janiya Hamblin and Shanel Chambers coordinated the show to exhibit local people and fashion. Music was performed by WSU senior Jeffrey Boykin, who plays the saxophone, and other musicians from Detroit.
The show opened around 7 p.m. with child models from the Taylor Lang Company — several girls wore tropical flowers with their dresses.
Chambers said she helped synchronize each model’s walk and performance to match the garden theme.
“As a model coordinator, I would just help them with their walks. . . . I made sure they looked good,” Chambers said. “When I coordinated the girls, I had to make sure they had more dainty walks, because the theme is a little more dainty, so their walks had to be a lot more graceful today.”
The event featured over 10 food, clothing and cosmetics vendors, 12 designers ranging from crocheted outfits to swimsuits, and four special guest performances.
Hamblin said she previously worked with a majority of the vendors at a fashion show. Most of the vendors were local and Black-owned businesses, The South End reported.
“We decided to use designers and vendors that were a part of our show — the WinterFest Fashion Show — that happened in January,” Hamblin said. “But we also had other designers and vendors reach out to us that wanted to be a part of the Botanical Garden fashion show.”
Each brand had models walk wearing some of their apparel. An introduction of the individual designer followed each clothing line.
Chambers said she wanted this event to be a good experience for the models because of the modeling fundamentals she was able to teach them during rehearsals.
“They’re going to be able to go other places and take what I taught them with them,” Chambers said.
Jordan was there to see her sister Jahnique Davis, who was a model in the show. She said she saw more than she expected.
“It’s all so very inspiring to see all these designers because they are all so young and they keep pushing toward their goals,” Jordan said. “Honestly it inspires me to do more stuff like this, because I do crochet too and even one girl did crocheted clothes.”
During the middle of the event, an intermission was held. Guest performances followed intermission, opened by Boykin.
Boykin is a psychology pre-med major that has been playing saxophone since the fifth grade. The Botanical Gardens fashion show was his second gig, his first having been at the POISE fashion show in the Student Center in April.
Boykin said this performance gave him the opportunity to perform different renditions of modern R&B hits.
“I’ll play anything. Usually, I’m trying to see who’s my audience, so it’s mostly people in my age range so I’m like, ‘okay I’ll play some mainstream music,’ so there were only a few that could really stand out,” Boykin said. “Once I get a song down, I start taking my style and incorporating that. After my ear training, then it’s all me.”
Ear training is the perception of notes, harmony and other elements of music that a musician has to practice to learn a song. Ear training for the fashion show took a few hours, Boykin said.
Although he has experience playing at an advanced level, Boykin said he still is unsure about his talent.
“It’s surreal. I always keep doubting myself that it’s just something I like doing,” Boykin said. “But when people give me reviews and say I did really well, then it’s cool. I’m still skeptical but even though I’m always in my head, I always try to do my best.”
The fashion show ended around 11 p.m., and a discussion with designers was held afterward.
Hamblin said she is grateful the fashion show was a success for participants, despite the hard work.
“I am overall very satisfied with how everything came out and the overwhelming support me and my team received from doing this show,” Boykin said. “It is not a small task to put one of these on but I’m grateful to have the chance to be a part of bringing that community together.”
Shawntay Lewis is the arts & entertainment editor for The South End. She can be reached at artsandentertainmenttse@gmail.com.
Cover photo provided by Shawntay Lewis.
