Our Berkeley FAST (Fashion and Student Trends) Club had their fall semester fashion show on Nov. 4, and it was amazing! As a member of both Her Campus and FAST, I’m here to tell you about it. FAST is the biggest fashion club on campus, and they host a fashion show each semester to showcase a short film, a beautifully decorated runway, completely handmade outfits by designers, amazing hair and makeup looks, and fantastic runway walks from models.
Everything that contributes to this gorgeous amalgamation of creativity and dedication is all produced and ran by Berkeley Students, and it’s so inspiring to see. The club consists of many departments; about half are creativity-orientated like design and photography, while the other half are business-related, which manage the sponsors for the club and oversee all the mechanics of the actual fashion show. There are over 300 members in FAST, where everyone contributes in each of their unique roles.
This fashion show actually holds the title of the largest fashion show in the Bay Area and was such a treat to be able to be a part of and watch! Every semester, the club assigns a theme for all departments to inspire the runway, and this semester’s theme was “Devotion.” The club president described it before the show as “stepping into a world veiled in secrecy and grace, where the intangible essence of commitment dances with the artistry of fashion.”
The main room in the theater was surrounded with purple lights that added to the mystique of the runway, which was beautifully adorned with wilting flowers, candles, and wax hands draping black fabric along the perimeter. After the president made a speech, the short film from the brand new videography department was premiered: a creative and beautifully shot video of a man sacrificing all of himself for the woman he loves, which perfectly captured the feeling of devotion to make a great introduction to the show.
The outfits of the show were separated into different subcategories of devotion ranging from religion, to romance, to nostalgia. The devotion theme was perfectly utilized in all its ambiguity as many different interpretations of the concept came though in amazingly unique and inspired outfits. The styles were all very different, from more traditional long flowy gowns to the iconic condom wrapper outfits, but all had so much heart and character and clear ties to the theme.
I definitely noticed themes of lace, ribbon, and a lot of white, black, and red across the looks, which I personally loved. The standouts for me were the chain mail top look, the pink and white ribbon look with the long braids and the parasol, and the two models who walked down together simulating a wedding with only one red glove each and matching outfits and veils. All of the looks were so stunning, and I’m so impressed with all of the designers who accomplished such showstopping looks in such a short amount of time.
It was such a joy to experience my first runway show at FAST, and I really encourage everyone to come to the next one in the spring semester!