Vanier College students are wrapping up Black History Month in style – literally! This year’s fashion show celebrates Black culture and excellence, showcasing everything from headwear to streetwear, along with formal, traditional, and cultural attire.
To make sure the month ends on a high note, the event also features dancers, spoken word artists, and singers for an all-around celebration of Black artistry.
“We are honoring the past and inspiring the future – this is the voice of Africa – we have to tell our stories in our voice and in our way,” said Jane Nyoike, fashion consultant at the fashion show. “That’s why I’m here today I’m here at Vanier College, to amplify the voice of Africa, diversity and inclusion,” she added.
This year’s edition of the fashion show features fashion and dancing found in Africa’s 54 countries.
“I honestly love the African fashion that we have today, it really depicts our culture, really different types of culture around Africa – we have Kenya, we have Ghana, we have Nigeria – it’s really just a collection of all these countries’ cultures and it’s really beautiful,” said Lovelace Darko, current student at Vanier College who helped to organize the show.
For organizer of the show, Pearl Oduro, it’s important to showcase the various attires and fabrics in African culture.
“I feel like beauty is an art, beauty is a way to express yourself, it’s a way, it’s something that is so powerful and so diverse that it cannot be contained into one standard. What we are doing here is trying to educate, we’re trying to show that beauty is diverse and that black culture is beautiful,” she explained.
And the different categories in this year’s show each highlight various African styles and fabrics.
But for Oduro, this year’s fashion show goes beyond showcasing beautiful clothing – she wants everyone in her community to feel beautiful in their skin and to stop feeding into the idea of there only being one type of beauty standard.
“Beyond fashion we want people to take from this show that being black you should be proud of it. It’s not something to be ashamed of,” she said. “I want everybody to know that as black people we are strong, we have a beautiful heritage and a beautiful culture and you should be proud of that at the end of the day,” she went on to explain.
“I feel like this show is a way to express our black excellence as black people and it’s a way to showcase our culture in our ways of life, past, present, and future,” added Darko.
