Fashion show celebrates young Black creatives

Natalie Barr, Staff Writer

BLK Runway’s director LA Ricks never thought nine months ago when planning her first fashion show that it would lead to a sold-out show, she said.

Ricks created BLK Runway, a student-led organization, and put on a fashion show after she was inspired to create a show focused on the Black community, Ricks said. 

“In the fashion industry, a lot of Black people go through a really hard time, a lot of hairstylists and makeup artists do not know how to do Black hair, don’t know how to do different types of foundations for Black makeup, as well as the type of clothes we will fit in,” Ricks said. “I kind of wanted to make it unapologetically Black.”

AFROX is divided into three subcategories: AfroCentric, AfroFuturism and AfroPunk. The eight designers were chosen based on who BLK Runway thought would best fit the three categories, according to Ricks.

Ricks cannot wait for everyone to see the show and show off Black creatives from VCU who have never been featured in a show before, she said. 

“I want goosebumps. I want them to leave with a shock. This show is beautiful,” Ricks said.

Justin Cockrell considers themselves a crafter with a specialty in textile rather than a designer, they said.

“I was a designer a long time ago, but I really just enjoy fiber and all the things that go into making clothes as opposed to the actual designing clothes,” Cockrell said.

Cockrell knew they wanted to be a part of the show after they received a direct message to design a collection for AFROX, according to Cockrell.

“Black Runway is a celebration of all the awesome Black artists and designers that we have here in Richmond, especially in the VCU orbit,” Cockrell said.

Textiles associated with African traditions such as Mudcloth, Adire cloth and Kente cloth inspired their collection and will be featured in the AfroCentric portion, according to Cockrell.

“My collection is more of a narrative, the reason I like textiles so much is because as a Black person, so much of my story and my history in the United States is kind of because of textiles because of cotton and Indigo and dyes,” Cockrell said. “A lot of our colony was driven by the need for color and clothing and cloth.”

Cockrell hopes people will realize the fabrics and dyes are as intentional to the overall meaning for their collection, they said. 

“I want them to feel the fantasy and the hope and kind of joy out of it because so much of our story as Black people in this country is just so much pain and heartache. Even now it still is that same kind of story,” Cockrell said. “I just want to have a moment to enjoy all these hardships.”

Stylist Julie Bernardez was asked to style a collection for the show in August 2022, she said. 

“I was a little reluctant and a little hesitant just because this is my first time ever styling a show,” Bernardez said. “But, it was just kind of like ‘why not.’ I just went for it.”

Bernardez’s collection will be in the AfroFuturism section; she was inspired to use monochromatics to create a uniform look, according to Bernardez.

“When all of the models are just walking consecutively after each other, the crowd, the audience should be able to see what I was going for,” Bernardez said.

Bernardez wonders how this show could impact everyone’s future, she said. 

“It gives all of us, including myself, the opportunity to showcase our work to let people see hey this is what I’m doing,” Bernardez said. “Networking and getting your brand name out there.”

Model Jay Wilson had no prior modeling experience and did not think his first photoshoot would be such a big success, Wilson said.

“It got published in a magazine in France. It did great numbers on Instagrams and RVA Mag posted it,” Wilson said. 

Ricks asked Wilson to attend the casting call for the show; and even though Wilson got nervous, once he got inside, “it was game time” and he knew he “had to perform,” he said.

Wilson hopes to be an inspiration for other males interested in modeling, and wants everyone to come with an open mind and notice every detail of the show, he said.

“This is going to change everything, it’s going to rewire people’s minds in terms of fashion shows. There’s going to be a lot of shows in Richmond after this, but this one is going to get a lot of people interested in fashion,” Wilson said.