Couture Models, a registered student organization on campus that recruits students who are interested in modeling, gears up to strut the catwalk this semester with plans for a fall fashion show and a fundraiser for different RSOs. 

Megan Jefferson, president of Couture Models and a senior elementary education major, said the fall fashion show theme is “No Place Like Couture” and will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

She said right now the date for the show is Dec. 1, but it could change because members have to plan it “in gaps.”

“This is a big production, so it takes a while to put it together,” she said.

Jefferson said the fall fashion show is usually a bigger production than the spring fashion show.

“It’s not set in stone,” she said. “We will most likely have (the spring fashion show) in the University Ballroom or in Doudna, so it’s going to be kind of smaller, and it will strictly be runway and focusing more on fashion. In the first show, we do acting and dancing, not just modeling.”

In addition to the fashion show, the group will host a “Battle of the Orgs,” which Jefferson said is where different RSOs put a certain amount of money in a pot and whatever organization wins gets that money for their organization.

After that fundraiser, all groups will be joining in the union for a party, according to Donovan Gatling, vice president of Couture Models and a senior biology major.“Come have fun and battle against different organizations,” said Gatling. “Then have a union party where everybody dances.”

When it comes to the group itself, Jefferson and Gatling said it offers students who are interested in joining more than just an opportunity to model.

Jefferson said joining Couture Models is one way to make lifelong friends on campus, which is how she made some of her friends.

“When I first got to school, my roommate was my cousin, so I stuck with her and one of our other friends, so it was just us three all the time,” she said. “Once I joined Couture, I did that separately and I made a lot of friends.”

She said the group meets twice a week and does team bonding activities and fundraisers together, so she said it is easy to grow closer to people when spending that much time with them.

“Not only is it good for the modeling aspect, but also for making connections and developing friendships,” she said.

Gatling said while the main focus is modeling, the group also does choreography.

“We call it ‘modelography’: modeling while you’re also dancing, so it adds brownie points to your appearance. We also do team building and work with self-confidence.”

Jefferson said the group’s mission is to get people out of their comfort zones, especially those who are insecure.

“We want them to come out of their comfort zones because we have a lot of different things (going on),” she said. “We have fashion shows every semester, we do photo shoots and video shoots, so it’s something to get people out of their comfort zones but also build their portfolios, and we help them with that.”

Jefferson said students do not have to have the goal of becoming a model after college if they want to join; they just have to be interested in modeling.

She said tryouts have already happened for the fall semester, but there is still time to join.

“After our fashion shows is normally when people get a lot more interested,” she said. “After seeing us in the ballroom doing what we do, they’ll reach out to me like, ‘Hey, how can I do this?’ and normally right after our fashion shows is when we have tryouts, so I tell them (when tryouts are).”

She said sometimes there are students who are not available during tryout time, and if students would like to join, they can email her at majefferson@eiu.edu.

Gatling said students can also email him at dagatling@eiu.edu.

“Send me an email and I can be really flexible,” Jefferson said. “We have practices every Tuesday and Thursday, so I would have (the students) come to one of our practices and talk to me before. I would look at their walk and everything, and then they’d pretty much be on the team.”

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or hlshillo@eiu.edu.