A sea of silk and satin, leather and lace floated down the runway as Kent State University’s Annual Fashion Show debuted to an enthusiastic crowd filling the Kent Student Center Ballroom Thursday night.
The annual show features the work of students in the nationally and internationally ranked Kent State University Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion.
This year’s show, which runs April 25-27, features 171 looks from 42 designers whose collections and single-submission garments were chosen by a panel of industry critics and jurors. The collections and garments span all categories of fashion and include evening wear, market-ready, universal design and more.
“The Annual Fashion Show is a great opportunity for our community to celebrate and witness firsthand the achievements of our fashion design and merchandising students,” said Mourad Krifa, Ph.D., director of the School of Fashion. “Their extraordinary talent and creativity, along with the dedication of the faculty who nurture them, is what makes us one of the top fashion schools in the world.”
In total, 215 students worked on the show, including 24 on the production team, with students representing committees on design, merchandising, modeling, public relations and stage.
This year’s show is co-produced by seniors Daniella Byrnes and Mackenzie Karsten, with faculty members Joanne Arnett and Sue Yoder as faculty co-directors.
On Saturday, April 27, the School of Fashion will host its Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony with British designer Dame Zandra Rhodes as the 2024 inductee. Previous inductees include Omar Salam, Kenneth Cole, Estee Lauder, Oscar de la Renta, Dana Buchman, Leonardo Ferragamo and Josie Natori.
Rhodes will give an artist lecture at 11 a.m. today in Rockwell Hall, which is free and open to the public.
"I am thrilled and honored to have been invited by Kent State's School of Fashion to be their 2024 Hall of Fame Inductee,” Rhodes said. “It is a real privilege to become part of their fabulous community.”
The fashion show’s second presentation, the Awards Night Fashion Show, is at 7 p.m. tonight and will be followed by the school’s annual awards ceremony and a dessert reception. The final presentation, the Gala Fashion Show and Hall of Fame Induction, begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, in the student center ballroom.
The Annual Fashion Show is part of Fashion Week, which runs from April 21-27, and includes a week of programs and lectures to celebrate the fashion school.
Events remaining are:
Friday, April 26:
- School of Fashion Career Day, 9 a.m., Rockwell Hall
- Hall of Fame Lecture, 11 a.m., Rockwell Hall
- Fashion Merchandising Symposium, 2 p.m., Rockwell Hall
- Awards Night Annual Fashion Show 7 p.m., Kent Student Center (Sold out)
Saturday, April 27:
- School of Fashion Scholarship Ceremony, 9 a.m., Cartwright Hall
- Gala Annual Fashion Show and Hall of Fame Induction, 6:30 p.m., Kent Student Center (tickets no longer available)
Monday, April 29:
- First Year Visuals Fashion Show, 9 a.m., Rockwell Hall