Loud music, scantily clad women, and encouragement to stare were the descriptive words last Friday evening. UB's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance (LGBTA) successfully held its second annual Designs and Dreams fashion show. This year's show gave 25 percent of the proceeds to the Trevor Project.
"The [Trevor Project] is a charity dedicated to suicide prevention of LGBTQ teenagers and young adults. The money helps them get counseling and therapy," said Judy Mai, a sophomore occupational therapy major and president of the UB LGBTA. "The money helps them get counseling and therapy. We chose [the Trevor Project] because of last semester with all the suicides there were in the LGBTQ society."
There were nine designers, several of them local and all from New York State, and dozens of models displaying many different styles. The hosts of the show, Kristina Murray and Joe Nasby, kept up a lively dialogue and kept the show moving smoothly between designers.
People who only came for the designs were given a treat about halfway through with a performance from UB Glee, which gave its rendition of a couple songs and added some very impressive solo parts to the evening.
One designer that showed a good deal of individuality and promise is also a current UB student. Christina Kim, a sophomore chemistry major, sent all of her models down the runway in various materials that clothes are not normally made of such as plastic sheets, newspapers and cellophane. Copies of The Spectrum itself even went into a few of the outfits.
"I found [Kim] to be the most eco-friendly designer," said Antoine Barnes, a freshman in the fashion design and industry program at Villa Maria College.
Holly Hue, a designer clothing company fronted by Holly Kerr, was instrumental in putting the organizers of the show in touch with many of the designers. Holly Hue started off the show with somber-colored outfits that could be seen on any fashion-forward student.
A crowd favorite was Lovesick Teenagers Vintage, run by Buffalo State students Alison Pieroni and Shannon Campbell. Their fashions consisted of vintage wear that seemed to have originated in the 1980s.
"My personal favorite was LTV," Barnes said. "Their vintage was so fetch. I love it."
Other designers in the show were Rodgers and Gibson Ties, Katie Gariepy, Thomas Lee Designs, Lilipad Creations, and Splash Panic.
The finale of the show came from Dmattaliano, created by Desiree Murphy, a Buffalo native that studied at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. The main feature of her designs were wedding dresses, some of which were quite contrary to what society has come to expect. The most memorable was a colorfully pink dress that had a top consisting of two thin crossed straps across the chest that left little to the imagination.
"I'm friends with one of the people running [Designs and Dreams]. That's why I came," said Anna Kammen, a junior linguistics major. "I wound up really enjoying the show, though I found some of the wedding dresses inappropriate."
Whether the audience was there to support charity or to enjoy a taste of local fashion, many enjoyed the varying styles and creative, energetic atmosphere.
"I think it went perfectly, more than I could hope for," Mai said. "There were a few glitches at first, but it was great and next year will be even better."
E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com
