The Buffalo State Fashion and Textile Technology (FTT) department held their 18th annual RUNWAY show on Saturday April 26 in the Buffalo State Sports Complex. The show is the longest running fashion production in Buffalo, NY.

The show is entirely planned out and led by FTT students, with support from the design, communications, theater, event planning, and African studies departments.

This year saw an impressive 22 senior designers showing off their unique works, the most the show has ever had. The Legacy Dance team had a performance halfway through the show, stunning the audience with expressive dances.

The prominent theme is Intersectional Identity, which RUNWAY describes on their website as a focus that “challenges participants and viewers to reflect on the complexities of their own identities, drawing attention to the ways in which our unique differences also unite us as one.”

Each student’s work challenged this focus in many unique ways. From showing the disparity between rich and poor, to displaying different heritage pride, to embracing what makes us unique in our identities, a wide variety of messages and emotions were expressed that night.

The pop-up boutique Bengal Bodega was set up outside the venue, with students selling their own handmade apparel, shoes, earrings, and pottery. Also on display were figures that students created in participation with New Era Cap, the Buffalo-based hat company.