This year, Omaha Fashion Week celebrated its 16th year at the Omaha Design Center. OFW was over the course of four days, embracing an AUDACIOUS Season with 38 designers and over 100 looks presented by high school and University of Nebraska-Lincoln students.
The spring 2024 season focused on boldness, and each designer took this broad term to a whole new level. On night two of OFW, many designers presented what bold means to them and for House of Chelette, including its bright colors, luxuriousness and the use of feathers.
Inspired by the New Orleans second line, each design consisted of umbrellas, lingerie and crinoline petticoats. The focus of the designs were the umbrellas, which were covered with sequins, feathers and bright colors.
Quinashai Chelette, a designer from New Orleans, created this line as a way to give New Orleans fashion and art more of a presence. The collection’s title is “Please Excuse My French,” as a way to draw attention to the umbrellas by stripping the models down to the simplicity of a crinoline petticoat and lingerie.
Aylana Goodwin and Jaxon Gilner, both junior apparel designer majors, loved Chelette’s designs and use of feathers as inspiration for future designs.
“Feather and lingerie was a vibe,” Goodwin said.
“(Chelette) thought of everything,” Gilner said.
Brazenness did not always mean bright colors and extreme maximalism. For Le’Mario Somerville, his collection, Noir, embraced dark femininity with a combination of all black sequins, feathers and ball gowns.
This collection quickly grabbed everyone’s attention, as each dress was elegant and seductive. Somerville’s inspiration was from his relationship with sleep because while someone is asleep, they dream they’re whoever they want to be.
There was also inspiration from old couture in the 60s and 70s because of the way silhouettes, texture and dresses are supposed to fit the body. All nine looks within his collection were well-suited to all of the models.
“I focus on the clothes to flatter the body,” Somerville said.
Throughout OFW, it was evident that every design was very intentional in telling a story, whether it was through playful childhood designs, gothic romance or a commentary of femininity through the male gaze.
The AUDACIOUS Season redefined bold. It was proven that bold does not mean maximalist at OFW but it means to be thoughtful, wholehearted and passionate. All designers, from the high school level to each of the headliners, designed with passion in mind and did not disappoint.