There is a phrase in the fashion world: “Fashion never sleeps.” At the end of the last semester, a handful of UB fashion aficionados decided it was time for this university to wake up.
You may have seen people stopping fashionable students in the Student Union for a picture of their outfits. These people weren’t bloggers or fashion designers – they are members of UB’s fledgling fashion club, trying to make their presence known on campus.
Fashion Student Association, or FSA, is a new and rapidly growing temporary SA club. The club hopes to have a larger impact on the campus in the future.
“At first there was no Fashion Association, so I decided that I should try [to make one]. I didn’t realize how easy it would be,” said Keji Omoboni, the president and one of the founders of Fashion Student Association. “I went to the SA office and basically asked what I needed to do. From there, it just sort of blew up.”
At the end of the spring 2014 semester, Omoboni, a junior business major, along with Ayo Seriki, a senior marketing major and FSA’s treasurer, and Moriel Wimes, a junior English major and FSA’s vice president, decided to become an SA club. The club has been around for more than one semester.
E-Board members attribute the club’s smooth transition process to the fact that Seriki is a former SUNY Delegate, and his experience dealing with student-run clubs.
“They’ve been following the guidelines, and even though they haven’t fully learned them yet, they’re asking a lot of questions,” said SA Vice President Evan Chen. “They do cool events, and they do a good job of getting out there and trying to build upon themselves and do more for the students.”
Diversity is a major value for the association, Omoboni said. He said it’s “the thing that makes us standout from the other clubs. Our SA kind of combines everyone.”
Members come from many different backgrounds, but they all have one key thing in common: They all love fashion. From high fashion to more urban styles, members of the e-board look as if they came out of magazines like GQ or Vogue.
They are meticulous in their aesthetic, from their hairstyles to their outfits. There is no need to second-guess what club they are a part of.
As a new and smaller club, FSA realizes it must collaborate with larger, more developed clubs in order to gain more popularity among the student body.
The club had a red carpet style picture booth the club set up at the African Student Association’s fashion show. The show drew hundreds of students.
FSA also holds general body meetings every other week, where club discusses fashion trends.
The club’s most recent meeting, entitled “The Kanye Effect,” was a discussion on whether or not it was OK for people to change their style for a significant other, as well as many other topics related to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
Many of the questions posed created lively discussion. The group had a “who wore it better” session, in which a side-by-side comparison of two celebrities were projected, and the audience analyzed the photos and chose who put the outfit together better. The group examined everything from shoes to accessories.
Another question was: “What are your fashion turnoffs?” which resulted in someone murmuring “wearing the same leggings every day.” Many in attendance, e-board included, began laughing.
“FSA has a lot of potential,” said Chevon Rutty, a sociology major and recent transfer to UB. “It’s a big school and a lot of people care about fashion.”
FSA fills a specific niche at UB, as it is the only club centered solely on fashion at a school with nearly 30,000 students with different interpretations of style and what it means to be fashionable.
“[This club] is a good way to see how everyone perceives fashion,” said Jonathan Percy, a sophomore media studies major. “Everybody has their own style, so it’s cool to see how people come together.”
FSA has a few ideas in the works for what to do next. The club plans on doing a do-it-yourself event in order to get more involved and more recognized by UB students. The club also has an upcoming bake sale.
The group is also planning on throwing a fashion show sometime next semester and may collaborate in the Black Student Unions flagship event, a fashion show entitled “Black Explosion.”
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