FACS Department Partners With Models For Christ To Hold Fashion Show Bootcamp

In collaboration with representatives from Models for Christ, the Association of Students of African Descent (ASAD) Club and the Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) department hosted a boot camp Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 for around 80 students aspiring to model in on-campus fashion shows during the spring semester. 

The boot camp was scheduled in preparation for the FACS fashion show on April 12 which will highlight the work of 21 student designers. This year’s theme, Musicology, will showcases how fashion and music can work together to glorify God.

After choosing the student models for the FACS Fashion Show, the ASAD model tryouts took place a few days after the boot camp. The ASAD fashion show will take place March 29 in the Vines Center, displaying authentic clothing and costumes based on African culture.  

Student models are a critical part of both shows, and students of all majors are welcome to try out. However, in previous years the show’s organizers found that students lacked the foundational skills required to model, putting candidates on unequal footing.

“We thought, why don’t we get in front of that and give every student the chance to learn how to walk, how to have posture, what it means to model for God,” said Loni Mbele, Chief Executive Officer of Not Just Sunday and representative from Models for Christ.

The boot camp taught students the basics of modeling including runway walks and turns, poses and facial expressions.    

“The boot camp is essentially a 101 course to modeling,” said sophomore Alfred Abe, the male assistant modeling coach for ASAD. 

“I like how much more complicated it is than it actually seems. It just seems like walk and pose, but how you walk and how you present what you’re wearing all goes into modeling. There’s a range of expressions that I really love,” Abe said.

During the boot camp, students heard the testimonies of Models for Christ representatives Shemara Barrett and Mbele about how to be a light for Christ amid a secular industry.

“Being a model means how do you represent what it is that you believe in,” Mbele said. “We are all called as believers to walk the runway of righteousness, and if you don’t understand that first, what’s the point of the posture? What’s the point of learning how to turn? You’ve got to know what it is that you stand for because that’s going to be portrayed in what you show on stage.”   

During the rest of the workshop, students were led by both Mbele and ASAD student model coaches through different exercises including a game of visual telephone with facial expressions, pairing up to practice runway turns and thinking of unique poses to strike at the end of a runway walk. At the end of the workshop, students put together all three skills — turns, facial expressions and poses — and expressed their unique personalities by putting on their best model catwalk for their peers.

“My favorite thing about modeling is just being me,” said Anastasia Jeneva, the female assistant model coach. “I’m able to express myself through the walks, through the music and through the clothes.”

Perez is an arts & culture reporter for the Liberty Champion.