March 21, 2016 - As part of the Student Council Week celebration, the Photography Club and the Fashion and Design Club put together a fashion show to showcase student talent and creativity. Themed 'Monochrome', the catwalk event brought together designers from Ashesi, Radford University and Valley View University.
Aside being an avenue for up and coming designers to display their work, the fashion show was an opportunity to appreciate the different ways people choose to present themselves. “Fashion gives each and everyone an identity; that is the beauty I see in it,” said Jane Amerley Annan ’17, President of the Fashion and Design Club. “We all define who we are through fashion and that makes it so effortless. This is the meaning of fashion; being comfortable with your choices because that is what you own and that is what appeals to you.”
Ashesi’s Norton Motulsky Hall was packed students and guests as models paraded the black and white-checkerboard runway in clothing put together by the young designers. The show also had a mix of musical and spoken word performances from students of Ashesi.
Monochrome featured several design lines from a talented crop of designers looking to bring new perspectives to the fashion world; from sunglasses with bamboo frames to traditional smocks. "One thing I realized in the local fashion industry is that when it comes to traditional wear, people focus more on the southern Kente than on the northern one,” said Anna Naami ’16. “Being from Tamale, I was exposed to a wide variety of designs of the [Kente] cloth. The people there wear it regularly, but don't take it a step further to make designs. Eventually, I hope to hire a fashion designer or a tailor to work on some designs.”
Following the success of the fashion show, plans are underway for next year’s event. “Not only do we want to evoke creativity in Ashesi students, but also we want to build rapport with other universities” said Mami Kwenua Amuah '17, Executive Member of the Photography Club. “The fashion show will only get bigger and better and that means going far and wide to find students just like us who are doing amazing things in the world of fashion”
Clothing and designs featured included the kimono line from Upendo Couture by Jane Amerley Annan ’17, traditional smocks by Anna Naami ’16 , M&D Crochic by Nana Ama and Ama from Valley View University, Originblaq, Hot Du Froid by Dorcas Kpogoh from Radford University College and bamboo framed sunglasses by the Kingzmen.
