The American University Public Relations Student Society of America held ProFASHIONal, a fashion show, on Tuesday night in the Tavern that featured professional fashions chosen and modeled by students.
“ProFashional is a fashion show highlighting the differences between business casual and business professional. At AU we know that a lot of students intern and attend events throughout the city where a certain dress code is required,” said Jenna Mosley, the event’s coordinator and member of AU PRSSA. “But a lot of times the line between business casual and business professional can seem kind of blurry. Especially when you’re so used to wearing jeans and t-shirts everyday. We thought it would be helpful to students to show them what exactly these tricky dress codes entail,” she said.
The PRSSA is a national, pre-professional organization made up of students who one day hope to work in the public relations industry. The AU branch of the organization holds events for students to share professional knowledge from highlighting PR events held throughout the city to showing the ins and outs of networking.
“We hold a wide variety of events throughout the year, which is evident from our programming this year. We hold both large and small panel events, business attire fashion shows, chapter meetings, and co-sponsor events with similar organizations on campus, like the Social Media Club,” said President Deniz Sonmez-Alpan.
The idea for ProFASHIONal came to the PRSSA last semester, says Sonmez-Alpan, after some members attended a national conference for PRSSA and noticed that many of the students were poorly dressed for the professional occasion. The group decided to host a fashion show in the spring, using student models and clothes, to address the fine line between business casual and business formal.
The event was held in the Tavern on Tuesday night, starting at 9 p.m., and was attended by nearly 60 people. No outside clothes were used – although boutique Native Danger helped to sponsor the event – and student models chose their own outfits from their closets to wear on the runway.
“That’s the beautiful thing about this, we didn’t need to bring in outside clothing,” said Sonmez-Alpan. “People who attended were able to see first-hand that not only do you not need to spend a ton of time putting together a great professional outfit, but that they can be made with pieces you have in your closet,” she said.
Due to the success of the event, Sonmez-Alpan says that the PRSSA may continue the event in the future to help students find the best way to express themselves while remaining professional.
“We wanted students to know that they don’t have to lose themselves in their clothing–that they can still be expressive while looking clean and professional,” said Sonmez-Alpan. “Everyone should know the difference between business casual and business formal – because there is a difference.”
Kendal Gapinski
Advanced Reporting
Kendal (Gapinski) Kloiber 