Editorial: WSSU New Designer Showcase

This piece is slightly late because of some technical difficulties I have had with my laptop in the last few weeks. Nevertheless, this is our personal review of the New Designer Showcase hosted at Winston Salem State University on March 24th, 2012. This was the first event of its kind on campus which brought joy to our ears. Of course, they asked us to participate but we were not quite prepared to display the brand on that type of platform; so we opted not to participate. However, we showed up to support and got some quality photos as well. More after the jump.

The showcase featured the collections from one team and two independent designers who either currently attend WSSU or were recent alumni. While there were only three collections in the showcase each featured about 10-12 looks. To be eligible your garments had to be either made by hand or heavily fabricated from its original state reflecting some type of unique flair. We thought this was great because it kept designers from simply purchasing clothing and putting outfits together.

There was a very limited amount of men’s fashion featured within the showcase. The items that were featured had a slightly stronger street presence than what we were hoping for however the pieces were still quality. Also, we felt as though some of the fitting for the menswear could have been a little better but seeing as we doubt any of it was made from a custom pattern we can see where the margin for error would be greater.

Here are a few shots from each of the designers:

The American Dream: Tanisha Turner & Damarcus Miller

(Designers: Tanisha Turner and Damarcus Miller)

Modern Day Adams Family: Elgin Phillips

(Above: Designer Elgin Phillips Below: Elgin's custom cap toe dress shoe)

Chadlin: Charlie Conklin

Overall the event was a success and the designers did an amazing job with their pieces. Ultimately, as long as there is quality fashion programming occurring on campus we can’t complain. We will be looking to participate in similar events on and off campus as they continue pop up within the region. If you have any information in regards to similar events occurring in the area please let us know via email at 9thpastureteam@gmail.com. Keep your eyes on the blog as we will be trying to update it weekly. Stay tuned and follow us on twitter @IXTH_Pasture to see when we drop new photos and reviews. Thanks!