BATON ROUGE - Clothing store Banana Republic and fashion brand Ellemnop.Art are teaming up for the second High Fashion Fine Art II Fashion Show & Art exhibition this weekend at Towne Center in Baton Rouge.

The event showcases handmade designs from local university students studying textiles, apparel and merchandising. LSU and Southern University fashion students are joining forces to bring a little bit of New York Fashion Week to the capital area. 

"How much fun is it to have our local students at LSU and Southern be able to showcase their artwork here, similar to what they're doing in California and New York, why not Baton Rouge right?" Baton Rouge Banana Republic store manager Chantala Smith said.

Attendees will get to see the unique designs crafted by these promising young designers.

"I was a little overwhelmed by how excited they are, which means there is a need in the community to showcase it," Smith said.

The designers were tasked with creating a one-of-a-kind piece to pair with a piece of clothing from Banana Republic. 

Southern University student Amaya Johnson said this is her first fashion show, and it started coming together for her at the fitting. 

"Seeing what I created goes so well with something from a big store like Banana Republic was really exciting," Johnson said.

Johnson said she picked up the craft during the pandemic when she got bored and asked her mother for a sewing machine.

"This is my first time telling my family about a fashion show that I'm doing so they were pretty excited too," Johnson said.

LSU student Ashlee Wilkerson is a veteran of fashion shows and said while stressful, it's still rewarding. 

"It's such an experience and such a whirlwind, it is the most stressful day of the year but honestly seeing all my girls together it's one of my favorite parts of the fashion show,” Wilkerson said.

It's something Wilkerson said she's dreamt about since childhood. 

"My passion came from 7-year-old me. There was a movie called 'Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale' that I watched when I was a little kid and that put the idea in my mind to become a designer," Wilkerson said. 

You can look forward to sequins, feathers, denim, and faux furs headed down the runway. 

"I had the opportunity to be able to look at some of the student work as they were doing their fit sessions before the show and I was really blown away," Smith said.

Friday’s show is sold out, tickets for Sunday’s show are still available here.