At the George Sherman Union ballrooms on Friday, students dressed to the nines attended the Boston University Fashion and Retail Association’s First Annual Gala where attendees enjoyed the premiere of a documentary made by members of the association.
Emily Park, a senior in the Questrom School of Business and co-president of F&R, said the association couldn’t hold its annual fashion show last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the student organization made a documentary last year following multiple designers in their process of designing and presenting their work.
The red carpet event was cocktail attire, giving F&R members a chance to embrace the style of their choice.
“We want people to express their personal styles and as a fashion club, that’s really what we’re about is embracing those differences and appreciating different fashion senses,” Park said.
Dressed in a plaid two-piece set, Akua Devall, a freshman in the College of Communication, said she was originally going to spend the night at Starbucks but thought the event looked interesting and decided to go.
“I was like, ‘You know what? This will be really fun to do’ and it’s an excuse to get dressed up,” she said.
The first part of the event consisted of getting pictures taken on the red carpet, eating and enjoying music provided by the BU student jazz quartet Rithvik and Rhythm.
Everyone then moved into the next room to watch the documentary and a sneak peek trailer for the Spring 2022 fashion show. The documentary followed three production teams in designing, creating and modeling.
Anabelle Pinkston, one of the designers from the documentary and junior in Questrom, said much of her work was inspired by pop art and neon colors. Her dress at the gala matched her design with sequins covering the entire dress.
“I was really eager to see how it would turn out and I think it was really cool in the way that each team was kind of separate but connected and all kind of came together in the end,” she said.
The event also featured a raffle for attendees to participate in, with prizes such as Muji stationery items and $227 worth of skincare and haircare products.
Polina Mogilevsky, a COM sophomore who was working as a volunteer at the raffle table, said she was excited to see the pieces displayed at the event.
“I just joined the club this past semester and I just want to find a way to help out honestly, it seems like a really cool event and I’d love to be a part of it,” she said.
Sophie Bush, a sophomore in Questrom and co-creative director of the association, said the student organization had been planning the gala every Monday with hour-long meetings since June, and their “brainchild” since April.
“We’re just super excited to actually be here and to just like to see our baby come to life,” Bush said.
Pinkston enjoyed how every part of the teams were interviewed including the directors, models, designers, cameramen and others who took part in the process.
“I think it came out really well for highlighting all the different aspects of creativity and business production,” she said.
Attendee Taimah Garratt, a freshman in COM, wore a red velvet dress, and said she was really interested in what the documentary was going to be about before the event. After watching it, Garratt said they really enjoyed all of the colors and the bodice featured in the video.
“I thought all of the designers were really talented and I thought it was cool that they had that sustainability element,” they said.
The focus on sustainability in the documentary came from the designer Amber Crenna-Armstrong who used her recycled containers from BU dining halls for her bodice corset piece. She also used recycled materials and fabrics for her other designs as well.
Park said the documentary will be available for anyone to watch soon.
Erica Wu, a senior in COM and vice president of the Fashion and Retail Association, said she was really proud of the executive board for putting the gala together.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Wu said. “I’ve been talking and mingling with everyone and everyone seems to really enjoy themselves so I’m super proud of how everything turned out and I feel like this is just a night of fashion.”
