The University of Massachusetts’ Amherst student-run organization UMass Soul TV hosted its 20th annual fashion show, “Dream in Color,” last spring. The show, honoring Black whimsicality and creativity, brought more than 100 people dressed in a myriad of colors to the Student Union Ballroom on April 25, to see the show.
Samantha Lucien, Somfenna Enwerekowe and Abena Ofori-Mensah, the hosts of “Dream in Color”, welcomed audience members who dressed in extravagant, colorful outfits with some even bringing hand-crafted accessories, like a bag with real flowers adorning the front and back.
The show opened with models wearing clothes from brands designed by UMass students and state locals. Unvanq was designed by Reginald Glover, Amante Attire was designed by Patrick Crenshaw, Threads was designed by Kosisonna Igbobi, ZousDesigns was designed by Liz Momplaisir and Serene Made was designed by Boston local Darren Francisque.
A high-energy dance performance by Ike Yeboah and Kristophe Zephyrin of the Alpha Kappa Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, a historically Black fraternity, transitioned between brand showcases. A vocal performance by Norah Thomas, a UMass music student, followed.
The production was not limited to preplanned performances. During the intermission, the hosts picked out 10 audience members for an “audience walk” section. They each took turns walking down the runway to upbeat music as the rest of the audience got to cheer on.
The colorful and whimsical theme of the show drew inspiration from “The Wiz,” the 1978 reimagination of “The Wizard of Oz,” starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Grayson Tyler, one of Soul TV’s event coordinators, suggested the idea for the show during a brainstorming session of the organization’s executive board members.
Tyler had recently rewatched “The Wiz” and commented on how she liked the Afrofuturistic themes and colorful imagery of the film. The other members agreed on the idea of incorporating those elements in the show. Their next step was searching performers who could emulate their creative vision.
Once the theme was set in late November, Soul TV began working on finding designers who could emulate what they were going for while still maintaining diversity. It was also important for Soul TV to highlight designers who are students at the university, but also to reach out to the local community.
Jaydin Brown, senior and president of Soul TV, expressed how the organization has felt a strong urge to make the show as good as possible for their 20th celebration.
“There are a lot of things on campus that haven’t lasted for two years, much less twenty years,” Brown said. “So the fact that we’ve been able to consistently do this for 20 years is just like, okay — we have to make this our biggest, best one yet.”
The themes of expressing and sharing culture and community-building found in “The Wiz” were on display at the Soul TV Fashion Show. As Brown describes, “It’s really about finding and expressing all the things about yourself that you like and that make you, you — your culture, the music you like, art, et cetera. Essentially, just finding that same full circle moment Dorothy had, where she ends up back home, but as a different, fuller person. She didn’t come back as the same Dorothy who left home. She’d seen so many things and experienced so many different experiences that she wouldn’t have if she hadn’t taken that wild risk to dream in color.”
Brown also expressed that the decision to make the theme “Dream in Color” was especially important in a time of increased censorship. “To dream in color is to dream unabashedly, to do things how you want to… To be unapologetically you.”
Fostering community has been one of the key missions of Soul TV since it was founded in 1996 by UMass Amherst alum Jenn Jerzey. Next year will be their 30th year of existence, making it one of the longest-standing organizations on campus. When it was founded, it operated as a radio show, primarily organizing TV and radio events. As the years have passed, it has evolved into the fashion and arts.
Arlyn Dionisio-Peguero, senior and vice president of Soul TV, says that Soul TV has served as a strong place of community for students. “Being at a predominantly white institution, even though we live in a more “liberal” state, people aren’t always super welcoming,” Dionisio-Peguero said, “Black students, marginalized students, we sometimes feel uncomfortable being in a predominantly white space. It’s always nice when people come with genuine intentions, wanting to share culture, creativity, et cetera.”
“I feel like our space is meant for Black students to come and express themselves, but it’s really intended for anybody who wants to stand in solidarity and just share space with us,” Dionisio-Peguero said.
Both Brown and Dionisio-Peguero stressed the importance of the show’s themes to the Black community. “I feel like this show is not just my way of expressing myself, but for other people to do that as well. It’s for the weird Black kids, the creative nerdy kid who is different from everybody else, who isn’t always accepted by the mainstream,” Dionisio-Peguero said.
Brown echoed this sentiment. “That’s why I think it’s important to see Black people in a softer light, to see them be creative and strictly creative, not just laboring for whatever they believe in, but having a chance to be free and express themselves without having to think about what society thinks they should be, and just be whimsical. Be creative. Who says that Dorothy can only be a white girl from Kansas? She could be a Black girl with an Afro from New York,” said Brown.
Dionisio-Peguero, like Brown, is graduating this year and pursuing other things in the fall. She said that for Soul TV, she has big hopes that it can continue to grow even more. “This is one of the longest-standing orgs on campus, and we don’t have all of the resources that we could use. So, I just hope we get the accolades, I hope that more people see it and want to join and contribute,” Dionisio-Peguero said.
Brown encouraged people to come and support the organization, but also to invest in the community as a whole, “I just really want all of us, not us as in certain people, but as a whole student body, to come together. We need to gather and support each other through these times and express ourselves in the process. That’s the point of these things.”
More information on Soul TV can be found on their Instagram page.
Filippa Roos Olsson can be reached at [email protected].
