Creativity was on full display at the Crossman Gallery on Friday, April 4, as Sevyn Fashion Modeling Troupe put on their spring fashion show titled “Reflections.” Nearly 100 people gathered together to watch the models strut their stuff.
The idea for the show was from the mind of fashion director Katie Zee, a senior from Monroe, who made almost every piece in the show herself.
“I’m at a time in my life where I’m not a kid anymore, but I don’t feel quite like an adult yet,” Zee said. “‘Reflections’ is about different ways of showing how to bridge the gap between the past and the present.”
The show was separated into three different scenes: knit and crochet, recycled and childhood dreams.
The first scene, knit and crochet, featured multiple matching looks. The models walked down the runway in pairs, showing off dynamic and colorful designs. Models Andre Fuller and Kayla Mckenna showed off an impressive look, donning matching green designs.
Fuller had a light green tank top with brown flowers embroidered throughout the front and a brown bullseye design on the back. Mckenna wore a long-sleeve sweater with a light and dark green complexion completed with a frog beanie.
The second scene of the night, recycled, showed that not all trash is truly trash. Zee made something out of nothing in this scene, as she took everyday items such as bottle caps, plastic bags, soda cans, a license plate and multiple other items to create dresses and cohesive pieces.
“The hardest piece to make was the soda can dress that Sophia [Polenz] wore. She actually helped me with it since it was such a big project,” Zee said. “We had to cut up a ton of soda cans into different shapes, fold the edges over, and then hole punch them. After that, we attached the pieces together with silver jump rings.”
Needless to say, the process certainly wasn’t easy.
In between scenes, members of the audience were asked to volunteer to learn to walk down the runway from Zee, which drew 15 volunteers. After a demonstration, many different students showed that there were some potential models in the crowd as well.
“I’m really proud of how the show turned out, I’m really happy with the turnout, we actually needed more chairs than we thought,” Sevyn President Kelly Lyimo said. “My favorite moment of the show had to be when we were all dancing backstage before the show to get all the nerves out.”
The final sequence of the night was titled “childhood dreams,” spotlighting a play on what the models wanted to become as a child. This scene featured Paolo Larios as a ballerina, Rebecca Lynn as a mermaid, Emily Connell as a doctor and Sevyn president Lyimo as a teacher.
In the end, the hard work paid off, and the reception was very positive from the audience. It was a great night for Zee and Sevyn, and people can’t wait to see what the future holds in Whitewater fashion.
