Founded by two OU students, Midwest Creative Group will hold its “Moment in Time” fashion show event celebrating the launch of its magazine Sunday night at The Wagon.
Organizational leadership senior Eliana Johnson and creative media production junior Lauren Boone met in the spring while living at the same apartment complex. Knowing Boone’s creative background, Johnson approached her with the idea to create a magazine.
Midwest Chief Operating Officer and Creative Director Lauren Boone and Midwest Founder and CEO Eliana Johnson.
“I texted her and I was like, ‘Hey, I have this kind of crazy idea, I just want to run it by you and see what you think,” Johnson said.
Johnson, Midwest’s founder and CEO, came up with the idea for a magazine in November 2023 after noticing a lack of local creative outlets for photographers, videographers, musicians and other artists. Johnson said larger cities were often oversaturated and difficult to break into.
“I knew a lot of people that were graduating with creative media production degrees and journalism degrees and going into jobs in insurance and stuff that was totally unrelated to what they just spent four years going to school for and are really passionate about,” Johnson said. “We were like, ‘We want to at least be able to showcase these people.”
Since April, the pair have been building Midwest, a creative group that aims to give students and local creatives an outlet to produce work professionally.
While the main event on Sunday is a fashion show, 16 Oklahoma vendors including Okie Vntg, Kurbs Boutique and All Smiles Apparel will be stationed in the venue. The event will also feature a live art installation by an Oklahoma City artist.
Beginning at 9 p.m., Johnson and Boone will announce Midwest’s projects for 2025 and reveal the first magazine and website, followed by the fashion show immediately after. According to Johnson, over 200 guests have purchased tickets.
According to Johnson, the show will spotlight four Oklahoma designers whose pieces range from airbrushed clothing to New York City streetwear. Each designer will present eight separate styles, which will be worn by 32 models.
Boone, Midwest’s chief operating officer and creative director, said she met designers and models through working with local photographer Ontario Byrd. Aiming to find designers who had not yet participated in a local fashion show, she eventually teamed up with Sebastian Arias, Midwest’s assistant creative director, to compile designers to feature in Sunday’s show.
“There's these hidden circles everywhere, friend groups that have been doing this, but no one really works together yet,” Boone said. “We kind of just pulled from each of those groups, and in that way, it kind of showcases a lot more throughout all of our platforms combined.”
The event will also feature Italian-Latin fusion food truck The To Go Box.
Lauren and Boone agreed they most look forward to showing people what Midwest is and offering opportunities for growing artists.
“(I’m excited) for people to see how broad we're looking at the future, like it really isn't just photography or modeling or fashion shows, it's commercials, and it's building community and making sure everyone has a home here in Oklahoma for their art,” Boone said.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and vendors will be set up inside the venue. Johnson said a detailed schedule will be available Saturday. Tickets can be purchased online for $10 or at the door for $5.
This story was edited by Peggy Dodd. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
