As the Treasurer of the Caribbean Students Association (CSA), I along with the rest of the E-board strive to spread the awareness of the Caribbean and its culture to those who are of Caribbean descent and to others who are not. The CSA decided to educate the student body on Caribbean culture, as well as celebrate the relatively unseen diversity of St. Joe’s students from different cultural backgrounds and countries of the world by holding a fashion show on April 20. 

This fashion show was an event at which models strut down the runway, dressed in clothing by different designs in all types of styles much like other popular fashion shows that you may hear about, like  New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week just to name a few. 

The CSA’s take on this was a fashion show called “For the Culture,” a night of displaying clothing from different eras and countries. The CSA truly delivered on the event’s promised  dual purpose of fashion and culture for the night. They offered outfits that were fashionable but also culturally conscious and culturally proud.

Culture, simply defined as the arts of a country that represents their human intellectual and creative achievement, was exemplified that night. The CSA’s show was broken up into different categories, such as “Bougie,” “90s,” “Turbans,” “Black Out,” and “We are the World.”

In each category, there were outstanding outfits that each represented one’s own style, and reflected one’s own culture. Everyone was blown away by the men dressed up in suits in the “Boys to Men” category and by the women dressed flawlessly for the “Flawless” category.

In the final category, “we are the World, the audience gained a real taste of different cultures uniting as one in the fashion show, but more importantly campus, as all the models walked in cultural outfits representing his or her own country or someone else’s country with their respective flags. In the end, every participant of the show revealed his or her name and country, truly driving home the cultural diversity that St. Joe’s has to offer.

People witnessed a night of fashion with various styles from “bougie” to “hipster” outfits that blew the crowd away with  a glimpse at culture, the principal theme reflected throughout the night. In the end, though, not only was this a night of fashion and culture, this was a night of unity. CSA’s fashion show revealed to us the diversity that exists on campus and the union of all of us working together. The CSA delivered on their purpose and more.

So let’s get ready for their second annual fashion show next year.