Paloma Pimentel | Contributing Writer
The Biscayne Bay campus hosted the second year of the FIU Pride Center’s ‘Gender Chill’ fashion show event on Nov. 18.
Gender Chill intentionally falls during Trans Awareness Week and empowers queer and transgender people by celebrating diversity and building awareness.
The event consisted of a fashion show, a guest speaker, and entertainment. The participants were student and community fashion designers, make-up artists, stylists, models, performers, and guest speaker, Alok Vaid-Menon.
Creator and producer of Gender Chill, Jess Osborn, shared onstage during the event.
“I did this show for all of us to know and remember who we are, remember when you were a child and the knowing you had in your heart and soul of who you were,” she said. “We kind of lose that when we grow up, but this is to remember the essence of who we are because when you remember that, you don’t worry about the physical or external.”
The crowds were invigorated as the models strutted down the runway and were allowed to walk the runway themselves.
Giulia Rota-Ono, a senior majoring in hospitality, who displayed three of her crotched designs, shared her thoughts with PantherNOW.
“It’s about making your footprint everywhere; you want to ensure you were there.”
Dhani Shanti, a recent FIU alumnus, showcased a peculiar outfit design that consisted of a black long-sleeve dress with objects symbolizing human body parts in the front, shared its meaning with PantherNOW.
“I came up with this statement that we are all the same on the inside, literally,” he said. “Why not create a visual representation of that as a way to combat dysphoria and show that we really are all the same on the inside?”
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