Fashionistas work it out to honor diversity, inclusivity

Diversity Day 2023 kicked off through a dazzling fashion show. The drab Alberta Kimball was transformed into a hub for expression and sass as models posed to thunderous applause from their peers.

Fashion and Interior Design teacher Julie Hietpas organized and facilitated student engagement when preparing for the event.

“My classes were involved in making some of the dresses for the fashion show. They started in September with the planning, meeting once a month,” she said. “There was a committee that started Fashion Leaders, and then later I had other students join to play other roles like constructing dresses or working on designing the program or publicity.”

The idea of a fashion show was created last year by Mason Mitchell, and it has continued to grow in popularity this year.

“Mason Mitchell was looking for a venue to showcase fashion, so we dovetailed the fashion show into diversity day which worked out perfectly because it gave us a venue to represent the class and his ideas,” Hietpas said. “The idea was the fashion show would showcase different fashion ideas, personalities, cultures and backgrounds at our school. We worked very hard to try to represent as many groups at our school as possible.”

Director of the fashion show, sophomore Elizabeth Bird, made sure everyone’s ideas were heard and pursued throughout the production of the event. This resulted in a broad variety of styles being showcased.

“This year we had groups like the decades group and culture group, so every time the group changed, the music would change to fit more of the style and the background picture would change,” she said. “We had culture, decades, avant-garde or high fashion, and then streetwear and workwear in one group.”

The goal was to be as inclusive as possible, so many different cultural groups were represented as models.

“Some students had ideas of things from their own culture they would like to showcase; some students wanted us to create something for them,” Hietpas said. “We had people say ‘I want to be in it and I want my culture represented’. Then when we were looking at outfits, we made sure that students only represented their own culture or their own beliefs or backgrounds.”

Models had full autonomy over their fashion choices, fostering an environment of unrestrained self-expression.

“We put out signs for models saying you can wear whatever you want to wear and whatever you want to support,” Bird said. “Whatever they wanted to wear, you got to wear. If you wanted to wear something for your culture, go ahead. If you wanted to wear something that was more streetwear and that’s what you were comfortable in, go ahead.”

Different committees, led by Hietpas, put the show together after hours of work. Outside groups also offered their support.

“We had a construction team that made some of our outfits. We also made some stuff in class, and others made things in their own time,” Hietpas said. “The Oshkosh Area School District Education Foundation also gave us a grant for money that allowed us to buy materials and clothing for the fashion show.”

Media Assistant Kelsey Gates appreciated the confidence radiating from students as they showed off their outfits on the floors of Alberta Kimball.

“I just loved seeing all different types of students shine,” she said. “They all had this glow about them as they were walking out on stage and it was really cool to see everybody be recognized from so many different walks of life.”

The support received by the student body was another huge plus Gates witnessed amidst the dim lights and dramatic music.

“It was really fun to see everybody cheering for those students on stage,” she said. “I think getting that feedback and praise from being recognized as someone who is a part of this community is really helpful for those who participated.”

The sparkling runway would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of people from all corners of the school.

“It took a lot of people and a lot of help,  but it ended up being a wonderful event and I really appreciate all involved,” Hietpas said. “I had people that Mrs. [Maya] Vang has in her classes, and they made booths that day and some participated in the fashion show. Global made cookies for us.”

Hietpas hopes students come away from Diversity Day with more than just a perfected model walk, and she believes this advice can be applicable to anyone.

“Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there in a public way,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to show who you really are to the world, and be who you are.”

by Abby Furcy

Published on April 24, 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue VII