Arts Council benefit puts focus on the Art of Fashion
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on October 7, 2015 1:46 PM
Designers show their newest clothing lines at fashion shows all over the world. But you don't have to travel out of town to see what's new in the world of fashion.
Goldsboro has its very own fashion show that promises everything you can get at fashion in the big city.
The Art of Fashion will take place Oct. 24 at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m., at Goldsboro Hotel's Terrace Room. It's a fundraiser for the Arts Council of Wayne County.
The first-ever Art of Fashion show was held back in February, with an unexpected turnout.
Traycee Williams, Arts Council operations director, said not only were people standing inside the gallery, but they crowded around the windows outside, braving cold temperatures.
"People talked about that show for three and four weeks afterward," Mrs. Williams said.
She said the second show will be even better because it is under the guidance of professional model, Jovane Marie, who is a Goldsboro native living in San Diego.
Ms. Marie heard about February's show through her mother, who had attended, and wanted to be a part of it while visiting her relatives here for a couple of months.
"I thought it was really great that the Arts Council is bringing fashion to Goldsboro and showing that even though we're a small town, we are brimming with innovation and creativity," Ms. Marie said. "I said I wanted to be part of that."
She has the credentials to do just that, too.
The 30-year-old has been modeling since she was 7, starting at Suzanne's Modeling Studio in Goldsboro. In her sophomore year at college, she left to become a full-time model. She modeled in Tokyo for several years.
"I decided I wanted to be signed with a big agency," Ms. Marie said. "I said, 'Where can I go where no one else looks like me and also have a unique selling point.' Tokyo was it.
"A lot of people think modeling is just being a pretty face, but you also have to have a business mind. Modeling is a competitive field. There are not a lot of black women in Tokyo in the modeling field. But Japanese culture loves black women. I was able to carve a small niche for myself there."
While modeling in Tokyo, Ms. Marie also taught runway.
After leaving Tokyo, she returned to Goldsboro, but then joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa for two years and continued modeling.
She now lives in San Diego where she is a freelance journalist for a veterans' magazine and runs her own company, Muse Enterprises.
"Muse was my modeling name in Tokyo," Ms. Marie said. "I broke it down in an acronym meaning Models Using Service for Empowerment. I teach young women, business women and teenagers how to walk with self-confidence and have that fierceness of a warrior and confidence of a supermodel."
The Arts Council jumped at the chance to have a professional model as a consultant for the Art of Fashion.
"The idea is to make the show bigger and bigger each year," Ms. Marie said.
She said about a dozen designers will come from right here in Goldsboro and some from Raleigh.
"We have a couture designer who will be there, too," Ms. Marie said. "She has a degree in fine arts and a degree in welding. But I won't give anything else away."
During the show, there will also be performances by local talent. And local sponsors are providing services and products to be given away.
Models will be local people, including a couple of surprise local celebrity models.
Ms. Marie has already had a walkthrough to coach the models in confidence, how to carry themselves and how to present themselves uniquely to the designers.
"The advice I give them basically boils down to three points -- posture, rhythm and attitude," she said. "With those three things, it doesn't matter if you have experience modeling or not; you can rock a runway."
After the show, the designers will be selling their fashions.
"When I moved to Tokyo and started modeling professionally, I saw that creativity and innovation are everywhere, and there's nothing that says that Goldsboro can't be a pioneer in creativity and innovation when it comes to fashion. It's just a misconception that it can't happen here in Goldsboro."
Tickets are $3 for general admission and $10 for VIP tickets, which include a gift bag with items donated from local sponsors. Tickets are available at the Arts Council at 102 N. John St. or by calling 919-736-3300.