ART/EMIS’ ‘Next in Line’ thrills audience

Wearing distinctive interpretations of “black, white, neutrals, blue and/or green” to fulfill the event’s dress code, an exuberant crowd of more than 125 students flocked into the basement of the USC Hotel Friday night,  all ready to watch an unforgettable night of fashion. 

Coordinated by ART/EMIS, a student-run intersectional feminist artistic club, the fashion show, “Next in Line,” featured 13 sustainable fashion pieces sourced from clothing at Goodwill. 

Marianne Zhou, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering who is a regular at ART/EMIS events, heard about the fashion show through the promotional posts on Instagram and showed up for the promise of a memorable night of interesting fashion. 

“I saw the ‘Next in Line’ Instagram posts of little teasers of different things that are going to be in the show,” said Zhou. “They were so interesting … super out-of-the-box fashion ideas.” 

Ashley Taylor, a freshman majoring in music industry, started the night with an hour-long set full of R&B covers and original songs. For Isobel Smith, a sophomore majoring in international relations and journalism, Taylor’s performance added another layer of student talent to the night. 

“Seeing a student band perform before we saw all of [the student models] really set the mood,” she said. “It was really great to hear a different type of music before we went into the high-paced music of the show.” 

Following Taylor’s set, the audience sat primed and ready for the show to begin. Student models soon stormed the runway to a mix created by Ocean Saints, associate producer for “Next in Line” Tony Marez’s DJ duo. Each of the 13 models wore a unique, sustainable look crafted to fit their body by a student designer. 

Attendees sat around the green LED-lit runway just inches away from the pieces, allowing them to see the intricate details visible on each look. With a variety of looks, from delicate and pale colored fairy-esque dresses to large red pants, there was truly a crowd-pleasing moment for everyone. For Shwetha Ganesh, Muriel Clarke’s silver chain piece, featuring silver chain necklaces and a chain-like skirt and crop top, modeled by Ire Burks, was the show’s standout piece. 

“I loved it,” said Ganesh, a senior majoring in international relations and global economics.  “I’m definitely going to try to change my fashion up a little inspired by this outfit.” 

With the show composed of various unique and different looks, the diversity in pieces initially worried creative director Lina Rehbein, a sophomore majoring in environmental studies. However, the designers’ individuality ended up adding to the evening. 

“We knew that there was going to be so many different directions,” she said. “That turned out to be the most rewarding part of the show, seeing how everybody’s creative vision took them to a unique place and how beautiful, in their own way, each piece really was”. 

The evening, filled with good energy and unique fashion looks, made some in the enthusiastic crowd excited to come back to future ART/EMIS events. Ganesh plans to continue to support ART/EMIS and attend future events. 

“I wasn’t super familiar with [ART/EMIS] before the fashion show,” Ganesh said. “But now that I know, I definitely will support as much as I can, even as a post-grad.” 

A common sentiment among attendees was an appreciation for the diverse group of models, all portraying different looks and body types. The model selection was a conscious choice by the ART/EMIS team, Rehbein said. 

“This project was about getting a bunch of creative people together, and really appreciating everyone’s diversity and thought,” she said. “Each model was selected based on how much they embodied the creative energy of the piece that person was creating. And, because those were so different, we had such an amazing, beautiful range of models up there on the runway.” 

ART/EMIS’ accurate representation of the USC student body improved the overall quality of the show, Zhou said.

“It was really refreshing to see because, in general media, there is always the same kind of models, the same kind of clothing, and especially in high fashion,” Zhou said. “It’s really cool to see everybody represented and see everybody looks so great, too.”