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An NC A&T athletic floor will transform into a runway of students’ latest fashions that reflect their identity and pay homage to the university.
The annual Homecoming Fashion Show is an event where students, faculty and alumni can all attend to watch students display their fashions on stage.
This year’s show is titled “Through Our Eyes: What We Wear Who We Are” and has three categories: Rooted, In the Essence of Aggie Pride and Tailor Made. The themes are centered around honoring and recognizing Black culture.
Rooted is meant to be an interpretation of each student’s identity, whatever it might mean to them, by allowing them to incorporate all parts of themselves into their fashion.
In the Essence of Aggie Pride encourages students to take their student apparel and make it their own. The Tailor Made category calls on Black dandyism, which was the theme of this year’s Met Gala Ball.
Black dandyism has roots going back to the post-Emancipation era and gained popularity during the Harlem Renaissance. It celebrates Black culture while intertwining it with high fashions and specifically tailored pieces. The show will highlight Black excellence through fashion while spotlighting student organizations and businesses.
In recent years the themes have been just as inspired. The 2024 show theme was Mythical Threads, creating an imaginative fairytale-esque world for the audience, and in 2023 students tapped into their creativity by exhibiting fashions revolving around Earth’s elements.
The fashion show is hosted annually by NC A&T Council of Presidents (COP). James Toon, COP president, gave some insight into the work being done behind the scenes.
He said they began planning for the show in April 2025 and have been hard at work ever since.
They have 20 student organizations and 11 student brands and businesses participating in the show and this year will be the first time that student businesses are included in the fashion show.
They will be featured in the category: Made by Us, which can be interpreted as a tribute to hip-hop brand FUBU (For Us, By Us).
Toon shared that the thought behind this decision was to hopefully increase student engagement by incorporating a different aspect to the show and give light to students who may not get much exposure.
Kindle Twyman, senior journalism student and president of Georgia Aggies, a student organization on campus, says that her organization was assigned to the Tailor Made category.
She interprets it as, “…reminding us as college students of the sophistication, swag, and elegance we as Black people bring to fashion culture.”
She also gave a glimpse into the garments she will be sporting.
“With my outfit I wanted to incorporate the femininity a woman wears in a dress [and] the masculinity of the man always wearing a blazer.”
Challenging gender roles through fashion has long been a practice in the fashion industry and now NC A&T students will have a chance to showcase their perspectives.
It's clear that students at NC A&T are passionate about giving a platform to their culture and making sure that everyone is represented while doing so. The show is bound to be a stunning and impactful night.
Laila Cody is a multimedia journalism student at North Carolina A&T from Queens, New York.
