Students had a ball at Fashion Forward’s Unparalleled Fashion Show despite technical difficulties

Mailyn Abreu|April 16, 2014

FAU’s Fashion Forward Club presented Unparalleled Fashion Show Monday night to a crowd of 300. Photo by Mohammed Emran.

As fashion bloggers from Envisionary Enterprises, SimplyAnnick, FashionatePhotobug, DopeAmbitions and the UP’s photographers began setting up their cameras, and DJ Bre of High Grade Audio prepared the music, FAU’s Fashion Forward Club was still vigorously preparing their models for the show.

The Unparalleled Fashion Show was presented on Monday, April 14 at 8 p.m. in the Student Union’s Grand Palm Room. The room was nearly unrecognizable with a double catwalk, lights that only focus on the stage and silver stringy curtains–no small feat considering they had a budget of only $160.

There were an estimated 300 people in attendance and according to junior multimedia studies major, Dara Jendayi (who is also the president of the Fashion Forward club at FAU), it was the biggest fashion show the university has had in terms of attendance.

“This show’s theme is Unparalleled because there hasn’t been a fashion show or event comparable to this event,” said Jendayi. “We have a dual level runway to enhance our theme. This university definitely hasn’t executed anything of this level or organization and creativity.”

A few minutes before the show, the press, bloggers, FAU organization heads, family of the models and designers and industry individuals were invited to have refreshments in the VIP room in Live Oak Pavilion C. There, guests enjoyed cupcakes, cakepops and fruits before and after the show.

A more causal look by College Lyfe. Photo by Mohammed Emran.

“This is a chance for each model to showcase their walking skills and their beauty,” said Jendayi. “Each member and model of the show have never been a part of a show this level.”

The models and designers used this show to network so they can be contacted for future events.

Julian Hanlan of 2KLife entertainment was one of the hosts and he proudly opened the show. It took a while for the crowd to warm up but once they did the energy was felt throughout the room. Audience members started dancing along in their seats to the music and commenting on their favorite models and designs.

The first clothing line to be presented was Spiffy by Parrish Dove, a junior marketing and graphic design major. The line was full of casual looks with an urban twist. There were a lot of classic, school ready outfits such as earthy button down shirts for males and females, colorful elbow patches and high socks.

“Spiffy’s line was my favorite, I wish I could own all of the outfits.” said Lorena Garcia, a freshman education major.

During the three intermissions of the night, a few students went up on stage to compete in contests such as best dressed, remembering and spelling out the twitter hashtag for the night which was #unparalleledfau and a 30 second talent show where one student sang and two students did a freestyle beatbox combo. The winners received gift bags that included maxi dresses, orange bowties, pencil skirts, bracelets, clutches, hats and sweaters as well as a $20 spa gift card.

Before presenting the next designer Minah B from 2KLife entertainment and our other host gave the audience a fashion tip.

GSaints swimsuit designs featured bright prints and fun colors. Photo by Mohammed Emran.

“Here’s a fashion tip for you guys, color print is a major plus for this season.”

After the tip the second line brought sexy to the show. It was GSaints Swimwear by Tracey Santil and Edlyne Garcon. Their line was made to express confidence in bold and daring swimsuits. The swimsuits were very unique–most of the one piece suits had open, deep plunging backs and the bikinis were very tiny. The line also followed Minah’s tip since the suits were mostly neon green, hot pink, royal blue and turquoise snake print.

“The bathing suits were really sexy,” Carlos Ferrera, a sophomore business major, said. “I think that was my favorite part of the show.”

During another intermission FIU’s Eclipse Fashion Society came on stage to strut their stuff. The guys were suited up fancy, bow ties included, and the girls wore a variety of dresses and 6-inch heels and they danced for the audience gracefully without missing a step.

The next line was College Lyfe World Wide, a fashion and entertainment organization that travels to different universities selling merchandise and hosting events. Their clothing consisted of sporty t-shirts, sweaters and tank tops with casual designs.

The House of Perna by Amanda Perna came afterwards with designs that featured the classic structural silhouettes of New York fashion with Miami flair. Her line was edgy and had lots of tight designs, but featured bursts of colors and flowy dresses–one long red ruffled gown made the crowd go wild.

Second to last came Lamaj by Jamal Morrison an FIU designer who had gorgeous gowns for ladies and casual wear for guys. The dresses were mostly black, brown and white and in mermaid silhouettes, but the line did have a pop of color with a pink, blue and red dress. The guys clothes had a boho, chill vibe.

Last but not least came FAU’s own Dara Jendayi, with her line titled after her last name. Right before her models were to start on the runway they experienced some technical difficulties with the music. After about a five minute set-back, Jendayi’s friends from Eclipse Fashion Society tried to help out by playing the song on their phones.

Finally the music came on and the models came out in unique two piece outfits that featured high waisted lace pants with bandeaus, sexy see through shirts and pants, skirts with high slashes and long gowns. It was by far the most unique line of the night.

“With this show my clothing line and event production skills will be showcased. I hope next year many organizations will use me to produce their events” said Jendayi. “This will showcase the quality of our work and show the school that there are professional students that produce and desire high quality events and that there is a true fashion presence at the school.”

Jendayi came on stage after the show and brought all the designers up. After a few shy waves from the designers Jendayi thanked everyone for the support and positivity, even through the technical difficulties. As the finale, all the models came on stage and were told to pose repeatedly to test their modeling variety.

“This show was great,” said Bernard Jean, a junior finance major. “Even with the technical difficulties most of the designers did a good job and the models did well. I loved Dara’s line. She did her thing, she was poppin’.”