Dangerously Authentic Youth Fashion Show @ MLK Civic Center
What a great event The Dangerously Authentic Youth Fashion Show was! The second annual Youth Fashion Show, “My Black is Beautiful,” coordinated by DOSIR Inc., provided non-stop entertainment for the 100+ audience members at the Martin Luther King Civic Center Saturday evening. With two racks of bright spotlights at both ends of the 55-foot runway, sound speakers, wireless microphones and music, this was a hip-hop happening kind of place. A combination of Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model and American Idol all rolled into one, this Youth Fashion Show was the brainchild of five young men dissatisfied with the scarcity of after-school creative arts programming for area school children.
“In a community where sports dominate leisure time activities, we wanted to make a positive difference by allowing youth to express their artistic abilities,” said 22-year-old Odell Morgan, one of the event coordinators. Morgan and Reyes Ivy, college students at Kent State University in fashion merchandising and fashion design, spearheaded this program with sessions meeting twice a week and culminating in the Youth Fashion Show. DOSIR Inc. partnered with clothing boutiques for the girls to model their fashionable collections.
They asked professional models, hair stylists, skin care, nail, and make-up artists to volunteer and teach the 15 girls, 10-18 year-olds from East Cleveland, Cleveland and Garfield Heights, how to reach their highest potential. With strong self-confidence, these girls individually pranced down the runway in high heels with straight posture, serious expression, and swaying hips, all the moves of the high-priced professional models. The Dangerously Authentic Youth Fashion Show is not only an example of creative talent, it is also an example of a community banding together to positively support their young people and future leaders.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul, who says the act of writing is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge lies in getting the pieces to fit together and make sense.
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