From left: Janelle Ziegler, Matt Slade, Maggy Francois, Emily Villalva, and Paul Wharton (back) in a panel photo.
Springfield — One of the best places to hold an event regarding fashion and its latest trends is, of course, the mall.
Saturday, Sept. 16, Springfield Town Center hosted Passport to Fashion, an event which celebrated and featured fall arrivals and upcoming trends for the upcoming season.
Passport to Fashion took place from 1-4 p.m. and was hosted by Sarah Fraser and Paul Wharton, co-hosts of the local podcast Hey Frase, which discusses anything and everything from pop culture to inspiring and personal stories with its interviewees.
“We will be having an Oprah moment at 3:30,” Wharton joked to the crowd when giving a run-down of the day’s events.
Audience members and everyday mall-goers were all eligible to win gift cards by entering their name in Passport to Fashion’s various raffles that were called out on the mainstage. By spending a minimum of $100 at participating stores, mall-goers could also enter to win a $500 gift card to Springfield Town Center.
On the mainstage, the audience got to witness a live tutorial by MAC employees on how to do a smoky eye, see a demo of Rihanna’s new Fenty line available at Sephora, fall trends at Topshop and Topman and a panel by various speakers involved in the fashion industry.
A panel discussing fashion trends and answering audience questions was moderated by Wharton and included entrepreneur Maggy Francois, make-up artist Janelle Zeigler, hair stylist Emily Villalva, and Topman personal shopper Matt Slade.
One thing all the panelists agreed on was “making trends work for you” and remaining authentic to yourself rather than feeling forced to follow every trend.
The trends “are open enough that you can follow the trends, but also make it your own,” said Francois.
As for fashion inspirations, Zeigler cited Kelis as one of her idols.
“She has a good mixture,” Zeigler said. “She doesn’t conform to one look; she’s just all over and I like that. She breaks the rules.”