Fashion infused with culture and tradition allows for much greater chatter than the trite “who wore it best.” You don’t have to travel to a Fashion Week overseas to be immersed in styles that are out of this world—or country at least—but you can delve in right here on campus.
The South Asian Student Association (SASA) will be hosting its first ever fashion show on March 4 in the Jubilee Auditorium at 7 p.m. No passport or multiple forms of ID are required, although it is wise to have your SHU ID with you at all times and an entry fee of $3.
Feba Samji, president of SASA, said the fashion show will showcase members of SASA modeling their own garments they wear for their holidays.
“The type of fashion that will be presented will be South Asian style garments based on the holidays in South Asian countries through the calendar year,” Samji said. “Most of the holidays in India are religiously based as South Asia represents various religions.”
There will be one holiday for each of the 12 months showcased throughout the fashion show, according to Jennifer Panicker, SASA Vice President. Panicker said the holidays are Muslim and Hindu and they include the Kite Festival in January, the Bengali New Year in April, Ramadan in July, Diwali in November and more.
“The fashion is extremely colorful, traditional, decorative and extravagant,” Panicker said. “Every holiday has a different fashion, so one should expect a variety of different pieces.”
The garments that will be showcased are not for sale, as the individual members own the pieces they will be modelling, but organizers hope audience members can walk away with some fashion inspiration. In addition to the fashion showcase, two SHU dance teams, SHU Sitare led by captain Julianne Cherian and SHU Raas led by captain Shruti Patel, will be performing cultural dances, according to Panicker.
“I think that it is great that we are able to take modern fashion and infuse traditional South Asian holidays to fit the Western society,” Panicker said.
Both Samji and Panicker have high hopes for their organization’s first fashion show, which they hope becomes an annual event.
“I hope by the end of the night the Seton Hall community at large recognizes how diverse the South Asian community actually is and that everyone walks away having learned a little more about our culture and traditions,” Samji said.
The organizers of this event encourage those who attend to allow the catwalk to be their road into the South Asian culture, which will help them to extract the true meaning of the event.
“We hope everyone will be entertained from the strong, diverse and beautiful culture of South Asia,” Panicker said.
Michelle Foti can be reached at michelle.foti@student.shu.edu.
