The audience at Humber’s annual fashion show roared and gleefully rushed to take a picture of Justin Psek’s runway debut.
In a white gown holding a lace umbrella, she walked slowly and sultrily, commanding the room. With a stone-faced mug and a presence that was double the length of the other models, Psek held the entire room in the palm of her hand.
Psek, a first-year Fashion Business and Arts student, who never walked a runway before, practiced her strut in her bedroom growing up.
“I've spent years practicing in my bedroom, I've like watched hours upon hours upon hours of supermodel compilations on YouTube of all the greats, and I just like made sure to emulate the walk, and that's what I did,” Psek said.
Her practice for the show, and all her years of preparation in her bedroom, were evident on show day.
“The final look was amazing ... with their walk too, it was really good,” said Allison Skinner, an audience member.
The event was put on by Fashion Arts and Business students as their final assignment. Twenty students participated in the show, having roles to help organize and plan the event, said Natalina Jbeily, the Unfiltered fashion show project manager.
The theme was initially inspired by English fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, whose influential work launched punk and new wave fashions, but then the students quickly realized they needed to have an identity other than a designer. They settled on untamed elegance, to keep the grunge yet polished intrigue, but also the identity of unfiltered.
“It was an inspiration of Vivienne Westwood and Chanel, but obviously we wanted to make it differentiated,” Jbeily said.
The venue was evident how much work was put into the preparation. There were favours on the seats, containing cards with art made by the students, and gifts from sponsorships.
There was a DJ playing before the show and during, curated to match the vibes as the models walked out.
“Seeing everything brought to life, it was perfect. It couldn't have been better,” Jbeily said.
The event was the last time the students would all be together besides exams, before graduation.
“I'm so proud of everyone, and everyone's so proud of everyone else. And we know that we put our hard work into it. So it's, it's so bittersweet that we're graduating, but it's like, we really created something extremely memorable,” Jbeily said.
The fashion show brought together the whole program, with many first-year students modelling, including Psek.
Melanie Walker, the choreographic lead for the models and who did the model casting, was struck by Psek the second she started walking at the casting call.
“(Psek) just really hits the mark. Immediately when (Psek) came into the room for model casting, we just knew she was going to be our main look,” Walker said. “The walk said it all. (Psek’s) face, her body, her, you know, facial expression just exuded so much fashion.”
She knew she made the right choice in line up by the crowd's reaction to Psek’s strut.
“To know that (Psek) made her debut basically just modelling in a college is amazing because she just is a natural at it. You know, just seeing that she can just walk the runway like it was nothing was truly inspiring. And I feel like it's inspiring to all of us,” Walker said.
Following her runway debut, there was a networking event after the Unfiltered fashion show, where Psek spoke with people in hopes of furthering her modelling career.
“I have never walked a runway before, and I was really scared when I found out I was closing the show and was wearing (the gown) because I was like, 'Oh, I'm (going to) trip.' I'm not (going to) do self-injustice, but honestly, after our dress rehearsal, I was like, 'Okay, I'm (going to) kill it,' and I absolutely did amazing,” Psek said.
