Cramton Auditorium fell silent as the lights dimmed and a single spotlight illuminated the stage. A woman in a white dress stood behind a podium beneath a glowing red sign that read “CONTROL.” Her voice, cheerful but eerie, rang out like a news broadcast.
“We’re seeing bright skies and bright eyes. Hope keeps us smiling. Hope keeps us safe. Hope keeps us seeing what we don’t need to be seeing,” the lady in white said.
The 2025 Homecoming Student Fashion Show, themed “One of One,” showcased fashion through a story. The production transformed Cramton Auditorium into a living stage — blending film, movement and design into an immersive display of world-building.
The show unfolded in three scenes — Control, Hysteria and Samsara, or rebirth — tracing a fictional society’s addiction to a drug called H.O.P.E. Through each look and movement, students built a world of order, chaos and rebirth — fashion as narrative, not costume.
Ma’Sha Summerville, a stylist and senior health science major from Memphis, Tennessee, said the stylist team’s goal was to move beyond traditional fashion presentation and create something that felt alive.
“We didn’t just want people to see the clothes,” Summerville said. “We wanted them to understand the story behind them.”
In a moment when students are navigating politics, protest and pressure, H.O.P.E became a metaphor for numbness, escapism and the constant chase for clarity.
Preparation for the production started two weeks before showtime. Given the limited amount of time and supplies as Summerville explained some materials never arrived, leading stylists to borrow, thrift and improvise.
“It was a ‘get it where you can’ moment,” Summerville said. “We pulled from each other’s closets and made it work.”
Campus modeling organizations, Models of The Mecca, ELITE Models and Genesis Models collaborated across scenes — a rare collective effort between Howard’s fashion groups. What could have been a logistical challenge turned into a creative exchange, with each organization’s aesthetic feeding the other.
“Everyone has their own vibe,” Summerville said. “It was about learning how to blend them.”
Scene one opened with sleek, structured streetwear. Models walked in elevated varsity looks — leather matching sets, gym shorts reconstructed into skirts and vibrant red variety jackets.
“I wanted it to look like something students actually wear,” said Elia Wooley, a junior fashion design major from Oakland, California. “You see the sweats, the ties, the hoodies — I just elevated that to show how everyday Howard is already runway-ready.”
Wooley worked across Scene One and Scene Two, merging the mood boards that were made for each scene and designing for the Jordan Jumpman collaboration that was featured in the opening scene.
“I was inspired by what students wear every day,” she said. “It’s still streetwear, but with a sense of pride.”
The lights shifted to deep blue as “HYSTERIA” appeared on the screen. Models moved in erratic rhythm, layered in distressed knits, leather textures and metallic accents.
“It’s intentionally disheveled,” Summerville said. “They’re walking like zombies.”
Wooley’s work appeared here too, blending elements from Control into the chaos.
“I saw the mood board and pulled pieces from both scenes,” she said. “I wanted to keep that same energy but make it feel unsteady.”
A model crept down the runway, dressed in a cropped-tail blazer, a white-collar American flag shirt, camo cargo shorts and striking red stilettos. As she made it back to the beginning of her walk, she turned and saluted the crowd.
Watching from the audience, Victoria Brooks, a freshman arts administration major, reflected on the message behind it.
“Hope can be good, but don’t let it cloud what’s still happening around you,” Brooks said.
Purple light filled the stage as Samsara appeared across the backdrop. Models entered in militant silhouettes — structured denim, ballooned pants and heavy boots. The color palette shifted to black, army green and deep red.
“I wanted everything sharp,” Summerville said. “Structured denim, hard lines — like armor.”
Nashwa Seliman, a senior international affairs major from Greensboro, North Carolina and president of Genesis Models, who wore a layered look styled around her hijab, described the process as collaborative.
“After I tried out, I walked with my hijab and modest clothes,” Seliman said. “My stylist knew how to work with that. She made everything from scratch — even my hairstylist created a ponytail out of hijabs. Every department took the time to understand what modesty meant.”
She said this experience was peaceful and affirming.
“Howard is open-minded,” she said. “They made space for different types of beauty. We have plus-size models, different body types, people from everywhere. That’s what makes it Howard.”
For Seliman, walking was more than appearance.
“Fashion is a language,” she said. “It lets me speak before I speak. How I enter a room, the color of the shoes I wear — that says something about who I am.”
The final moment came with a model in an American flag-printed shirt. She raised her hand in salute, then lowered it, waving her white flag as the lights dimmed.
Reflecting on the night, sophomore journalism major Josiah Smith said the show captured Howard’s creative spirit.
“Howard is where Black expression thrives. Even when the world feels heavy, you see people creating something out of it,” Smith said.
That sense of collective resilience threaded through the entire production — a story of control, collapse and conclusion.
As the final act, Samsara, ended, the lights shifted to violet. The same model who had once saluted now returned to the stage wearing a long white trench coat, orange and red varsity pennants pinned to the jacket, fishnet tights and slouched thigh-high boots. In one hand, she held a massive white flag.
Lifting the flag above and below her head, the fabric swept across the stage as she began to walk forward. Behind her, the word “SAMSARA” illuminated the screen. She reached the end of the runway, dragging the flag behind her as the lights faded.
“This was my first Homecoming show,” said Elijah Christie, a junior TV and film major and member of Models of the Mecca.
“I’ve walked before in a showcase, but this one felt different. I treated it like my last walk. Everyone here brings something special — we’re really one of one,” said Christie.
Copy edited by Damenica Ellis
