The show featured designs from 11 different designers as well as musical performances by Tayva Croff, Armanibanz and Amauri Park. Some designers were new to N Crowd, a fashion magazine and non-profit organization. For others, this wasn’t their first rodeo. 

Andrew Smith is the designer behind 7 Sins Mafia, a brand focused on streetwear with an emphasis on positivity. 

“The meaning of the brand is to change the outlook on life,” Smith said. “Everything does not have to be viewed as negative... I made a logo with a 7-point star, which means warding off all negative events or evil presences, and positive events will come your way.” 

Smith started his brand three years ago, but began taking his brand seriously within the past year. That effort seems to have paid off, as Smith has grown his Instagram following to over 2,000 and has apparel available on his website. 

“I hand make everything myself, everything's handmade from painting it, to sewing it," Smith said. “I take my time and put a lot of work into my art.” 

Many of the items featured on the runway were handmade. From intricate crocheted looks, to embroidered patches, many of the designers craft their looks by hand.  

The first to saunter down the runway were from the brand Kazos. The designs featured rustic style prints, leather and denim ensembles and mermaid-like crochet looks.

Entomology freshman Noah Lee walked for both Kazos and 7 Sins mafia. Before the show, he expressed excitement in modeling the unique looks. 

“I’m really excited about my second look, I went home, and I picked up these jeans, they’re 8 feet tall, they’re taller than me,” Lee said. “The stack on them is going to be so cold when I walk down the runway... I can’t wait to wear them.” 

Apparel and textile design senior Damond Hardwick, Co-Founder and President of N Crowd, spoke to the growth of the organization over the past four years. 

“We started in 2022 and just to see how it’s grown and expanded -- so many models have had opportunities, first time modeling, first time designing -- it’s just been a surreal feeling,” Hardwick said. 

Hardwick co-founded the organization with other MSU students who were looking for a fashion space on campus where they felt they belonged. 

“I wanted it to be more diverse, and I think we’ve done an amazing job at giving minorities a platform to express their creativity,” Hardwick said. “Whether it be modeling, designing or photography, whatever it may be.” 

Hardwick also designed for the show, and his brand Couture Culture blended his past designs with new looks and intricate rhinestone details.  

“I have pieces from when I first started up until now to show the growth that I made as a designer," Hardwick said. "I think it will be pretty cool for people to see the pieces I made 2-3 years ago... I feel like I came a long way and the pieces will show that.” 

In addition to the dozens of unique and creative looks worn by models, N Crowd also had performances by up-and-coming artists. 

Tayva Croff is a new artist who draws inspiration from Beyoncé, Jhené Aiko, Victoria Monét and many other popular R&B artists. Croff spoke about her early days of singing and finding her voice. 

“I started learning piano when I was six or seven, and then I got into singing when I was 11,” Croff said. “I wanted to do the talent show and my parents made me sing before I embarrassed myself.” 

After receiving her parents' stamp of approval, Croff felt more inspired to pursue singing. She is now pursuing a career in music, and she felt that the N Crow Fashion Show would be the perfect place to perform. 

“This is my first performance as myself, I have always been performing on stage as a character I'm playing,” Croff said. “I’ve done open mics in Chicago here and there, but nothing like crowd work.” 

Croff sang a rendition of Erykah Badu’s Tyrone as she walked through the crowd, connecting with the audience. She finished her performance by singing her debut single “One Track Mind,” which she released this past February. 

Political science pre-law sophomore Chelsea Small, Modeling Director for N Crowd, spoke after the show about the effort it took to make the show possible.  

“We did lose a couple of e-board members due to graduation... so a lot of our positions we still had had to step up into their role,” Small said. “I was one of those people who stepped up to control a lot of things.” 

Small said changes were made to the fashion show based on recommendations from past shows. 

“We’ve been known to have a streetwear-focused show, and we wanted to change that this semester,” Small said. “A lot of designers have reached out to us that wanted to participate in the show but had different looks. Also, hearing from our female models who wanted more feminine looks than streetwear all the time... we did make it more versatile.”  

Small spoke to the success of the show and the team effort it took to pull it off. 

“Everything was amazing from the setup to the lighting, to the audio, to the models and their outfits, everything was amazing,” Small said. 

The N Crowd fashion show concluded with a final walk with all the models and designers present and final remarks from the e-board. Friends and family cheered as the models strutted down the runway one last time to close the N Crowd Spring 2025 Fashion Show.