The University of Connecticut African Students’ Association (ASA) held its annual fashion show on Wednesday, March 25th at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.
The ASA’s goal is to reach out to the African and diasporic communities at UConn and abroad to show the community that they are here and that they care.
“Hailing from many different countries, we are here to promote culture, create fun, educate and support our African community on campus,” ASA said in a post on its Instagram.
In this year’s fashion show, the theme was “Threads of Time: A Legacy Unfolding.” ASA described the event on its Instagram as “Fashion meets storytelling and the runway becomes a time machine.”
Doors opened on Friday at 7 p.m. Hosted by emcee Tsagli and sounds provided by Dj Seyi, the night was a mix of afrobeats that shook the stage and got people dancing.
Afrobina, ASA’s dance team, performed throughout the night. The team’s name comes from the word “bina,” meaning dance in Lingala, a language from Congo. The team performed several times throughout the night, with choreography from UConn student Kayla-Audrey Njoh-Sam.
The show opened with a market scene, which told the story of a marketplace filled with vibrant patterns and colors. Then, models stepped out holding the flags of each of the 54 states in Africa. As models stepped down from the stage and filled the aisle, the theatre was filled with colorful flags.
Next, men and women walked the stage in traditional clothing, all designed and created for the models by Obioma Fashion. The bright colors of kente and ankara cloth, African patterns, dominated the stage.
Afterwards, the models walked in modern streetwear fashion from African vendors. Some of the vendors included Khenny, KAPÈND and more.
Emcee Tsagli kept the energy going between acts with audience interaction: playing “guess the song” with the audience, hosting a Best Dressed competition and showing off his own dance moves on stage.
Models then walked the stage in modern formal clothing. Finally, the lights turned low for the fiery swimsuit section.
The walks for the fashion show were carefully choreographed. Models either walked solo or with a partner and made full use of the stage. Ikechukwu Ugwa, a second-semester statistical data science student, was one of the models of the fashion show.
“We had complete freedom to create our walks,” Ugwa said. “We were able to see what we were comfortable with.”
Walks ranged from elegant to powerful to surprising, with each model showing their own personality.
“Over time, walks changed, especially in the last four weeks, because everyone was trying to one-up each other,” Ugwa said.
The fashion show wrapped up with a thank you to the E-board of ASA, as well as all the people that made the night a success. The models beamed with joy for their hard work.
Krista Bamfo, a fourth-semester biology student at UConn, is the fundraising chair for ASA.
“I’m the proudest of how everything came together. We had to go through a couple obstacles; we had to push the show to a month later. We were still able to overcome those obstacles to make a great show,” Bamfo said.
Teangeley Centeno, a fourth-semester physiology and neurobiology student, attended the fashion show.
“I wanted to go because it’s one of the fashion shows that UConn has. I think it’s important to attend events like this because it encourages people to get out of their comfort zone, and it inspires people to want to get up on stage and try modelling.” Centeno said.
The night was filled with cultural exchange and celebration. “Even in the show itself we had some people who weren’t African. The whole part is to show off our culture. There’s no gatekeeping with us — we want everyone to experience it,” Bamfo said.