KU Fashion Business Organization inaugural fashion week to end with fashion show | Arts & Culture

KU’s Fashion Business Organization will host their first annual fashion show on Saturday, allowing 10 student designers to display collections, modeled by 40 students. The show will be the final event of KU Fashion Week and held in collaboration with Alpha Couture, a Kansas City-based fashion and lifestyle group. 

“Because it takes place in [Capitol Federal Hall], we’re really excited to be able to come into a corporate space and bring in a whole other side of business – the more artsy side,” said Marilyn Jewett, FBO president. “We’ll be having all 10 designers walk their collections, and we’ll have two guest speakers during the show.”

Stemming from KU’s lack of a fashion program, KUFW will allow students interested in fashion an opportunity to learn more about what the industry offers. 

On April 10, the FBO will host a denim distressing workshop, teaching attendees how to upcycle denim and the role of sustainability in fashion. On April 11, LA-based fashion sales executive Julian Medina will present in Capitol Federal Hall and speak about his fashion industry experience. Post-presentation, a panel will be held with the designers, giving them a space to provide more context for their collections before the show.

“The panel will allow designers to talk about who they are, how they got into fashion, what their collection means to them and to share their creative journey and experience,” Jewett said. “We’ll be having these events to build and warm up before the big show.”

April 12 is the fashion show, featuring the designers’ collections and guest speakers from the Business and Design school professors. The designers debuting their collections are Amelia Adams, Nate Sullivan, Lily Guinan, Hayes Courtney, Sydney Benjamin, Robert Benjamin Tryban, Eddie Haith, Nathan Li, Kayla Giebler and Emma Holloway. 

The show has been in the works since the end of the fall 2024 semester, beginning with reaching out to Alpha Couture to collaborate. To prepare for the show, the FBO executive team had designer applications and a casting call. More recently, there have been rehearsals, promotion of the show on social media and adding final touches to the run-of-show.

FBO is a club operated through the Business School but is open to all majors. The goal of the organization is to connect students with figures in the fashion industry through guest speakers, educating members on the correlation between fashion and the corporate world and encourage members to express themselves through creative and professional workshops, including the upcoming fashion show. 

“It’s been really cool to bring in guest speakers and see them connect with our members,” Jewett said. “People will stay after the presentation and ask them questions and kind of talk about their experience. It’s an opportunity to not only network, but to get inspired and meet people they might not have been able to meet without the organization.”

Last month, FBO members got the chance to attend Kansas City Fashion Week, with some members walking in the show. Attending KUFW gave members an opportunity to see fashion in a larger city outside of Lawrence, as well as a chance to cheer on fellow FBO members participating in the show itself.

“It’s such a great experience,” Jewett said. “I had never experienced that sort of environment before I went to Kansas City Fashion Week. It’s smaller compared to big-city fashion weeks, but it’s a great experience to see how everything moves and what the processes are, and it was a good way to reflect on what we want our show to look like.”

The fashion show is free to attend, but tickets are limited. More information on FBO can be found on their Instagram.