Homecoming weekend was given a dose of chic courtesy of Her Campus, the leading online publication for college women.
Auburn students mounted the catwalk for College Fashion Week Friday, Oct. 11, in the Dixon Conference Center at The Hotel at Auburn University.
Auburn was one of four cities chosen to hold the event along with San Diego at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Orlando, Fla. at the University of Central Florida, and Boston, Her Campus' hometown.
Cities were chosen based on the strength of their Her Campus chapter, and Auburn earned recognition as one of the most successful, hardest-working branches.
The fashion show came to Auburn through the efforts of juniors Kerry Coppinger and Alexis Brost, president and editor-in-chief, respectively, of the Auburn chapter of Her Campus.
They and their team of writers beat out more than 250 national and international chapters for the honor of playing host to the event.
Windsor Western, president and publisher of Her Campus, said she was eager to feature a southern school for College Fashion Week.
"College life in the South is so unique, and there's so much passion and school spirit," Western said.
As the auditorium filled, the first 100 guests received VIP passes and "swag bags" stuffed with Luna Bars, Neuro Sonic drinks and Poppin' desk essentials.
Music provided by Auburn's DJ Ego pulsed through the room and models took the stage in affordable, trendy styles for "college cuties" and "collegiettes," Weston's terms for "girls that are smart, girls that are career-driven, but girls that are also fashion savvy and want to know the latest trends."
Four scenes gave spectators ideas of ready-to-wear outfits for loungewear, class attire, game day dresses and night-out ensembles.
Pieces were provided by Lilly Pulitzer, Adidas, Henri Girl, Rampage and Bongo.
Independent fashion designers for UsTrendy.com were also highlighted for being fashion-forward while remaining budget-friendly.
Samsonite provided accessories and the models wore Cover Girl makeup.
Western directed models to smile and enjoy themselves -- a departure from the pouting models on Paris or New York runways.
The young men and women modeling were Auburn students and mostly first-time models, which explained the minor timing glitches during the show.
Margo Kaestner, sophomore in public relations, walked in the "You Snooze, You Lose" and "Go to Class? I am Class" scenes.
She said she got on board after receiving an invite on Facebook.
"I've always had people be like, 'Oh, you're really tall! You should do it,'" Kaestner said. "And I thought, why not?"
The biggest surprise of the night was a musical performance by Navy ROTC students Jake Shurts and Tanner Roach.
The duo entertained with mellow covers of songs by Lorde and Bruno Mars while the crew set up between scenes.
"We want to make sure that we are highlighting some of the other student talent that we have at each campus," Western said.
According to Kerry Coppinger, president of Her Campus at Auburn, the final product went exactly according to plan.
"So much planning went into this event, so I'm so happy with how it turned out," Coopinger said.
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