A Moxie Society

The University of Mississippi Fashion Society is a relatively new organization, but that has not stopped president Morgan Cofield and the rest of her board members from making their presence known by promoting diversity, professionalism, and unique styles.

The mission of the UM Fashion Society is to place fashion in a context that stimulates the intellectual, political, cultural and social growth of all Ole Miss students. They hope to promote diversity through understanding the positive influences, training and self-confidence that fashion instills in every person. The society wants to fashion young leaders into young professionals and encourage them to use the world as their runway.

On a warm Thursday night in October, the fashion society did just that by hosting their first-ever fall fashion show titled “Moxie Mood.” The show was inspired by retro fashion and added a twist of the modern mood that is seen in today’s world.

“We usually just do a spring show, but we wanted to step it up a notch and do a fall and a spring show just because there is more than one season,” Cofield said. Fall is also her favorite season, so she was very proud and excited about putting together the wardrobe.

Held at the UM Museum, the models walked a square-shaped path to make sure the whole room got an up-close view of the outfits. The show included 20+ looks some which included, but were not limited to – bright fabrics, plaids, animal prints, denim, off-the-shoulder jackets and lots of ankle booties.

“We got our ideas from different stores in Oxford that sponsored us as well as the models bringing in their own clothes,” Cofield said. “We then modeled looks after what we saw on the runways from fall fashion weeks and what we all personally liked and wanted to see in the upcoming season.”

Model Avery White was one essential element in putting the show together and is hoping to make fashion/modeling into her career by pursuing New York City after college.

“I’ve always been interested in fashion – what people are wearing, how they are styling pieces,” White said. “I also love looking at magazines and cutting out photos to make collages.”

Reflecting upon the show, it was above and beyond Cofield’s expectations, and they are “planning to make the spring show bigger and better.”

In the meantime, photos from the fashion show have peaked students’ interest in the society.

“We are really working on outreach and are trying to rebrand the society so people can be more knowledgeable that there is a fashion society on campus,” stated Cofield, “But right now, Instagram is the best way to connect and stay updated.”

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses and suits alone – fashion is in the sky and in the streets. Fashion has to do with ideas, and it lives in our everyday lives, so embrace it and make your own statement.

An extended version of this story will be featured in the 2019 yearbook.