James Island-based artist Rolf Anthony Young created “This is Happening,” an event series blending poetry and fashion, after attending an open mic poetry night hosted by FreeVerse Poetry Festival.
As he listened to the poets with his eyes closed, he began to envision what it would look like to showcase fashion alongside poetry performance. He designed a shirt and gifted it to North Charleston-based poet Chris Wynn to wear during a performance.
“I made some shirts, and Chris wore one to an open mic,” Young said. “He walked up on stage and performed. It was beautiful, and then the seed was planted, like, ‘Oh, there’s something here.’”
The interactivity of open mic events also inspired Young to create this new format, as he sees fashion shows as often passive events.
“Let’s combine [the fashion show] with a poetry influence, so not only do you see something, but you hear something, and you might feel something, too,” he said.
Next event
In the months following their first meeting, Young brought on Wynn as the creative director for the This is Happening event series, and the two, along with Yasmine Mobley and Summer Juliana, planned their first event in September 2023 at Commonhouse Aleworks in Park Circle.
The first event highlighted poets wearing already-completed fashion designs by Young. Young and Wynn used the sidewalks as runways and poets performed on Commonhouse Aleworks’ stage.
“We had about five weeks to put together the first show. It was really a learning experience,” Young said. “At that time, a lot of the clothes were made, so I didn’t have to manipulate the fashion as much. I just had to have the fashion coexist with the venue and see if the poets would be willing to accept the task.”
The second free-to-attend event in the series, “The Ballad of Winter” takes place on Dec. 9 at the James Island Cultural Center. Six local poets, including Abby Duran, Native Wordz and Chris Wynn will take both the runway and the stage wearing original designs by Young.
For December’s show, Young is working on new fashion designs to fit in with the show’s theme.
“The Ballad of Winter is a playground for good and evil to coexist and battle against the backdrop of winter,” Young said.
The designs for this show, unlike in September, have been created with the poets in mind, opening up the creative process for Young as he works with the poets on fittings. Young’s background is in fine art, particularly painting.
“I had used the experience of art shows to manipulate the process … as if I’m an artist showing fashion, whereas in December, I feel like I’m establishing myself as a fashion designer,” he said.
Wynn, a College of Charleston theater alum, choreographs the event and works with poets on developing original writing for “This is Happening.” For The Ballad of Winter, he drew inspiration from winter favorite The Nutcracker and psychological horror film Black Swan to create a kinetic, theatrical component to the runway and poetry performance.
“We wanted to create something that’s different compared to other runways and shows. We want to showcase fashion … just being inspired by diversity because all of us are so different,” Wynn said.
Both Young and Wynn hope this is only the beginning of what could be a fruitful, long-term collaboration.
“My vision is to take this on the road as a touring company,” Young said. “Go to places where poetry isn’t seen or heard…I want to make sure I always create a sense of community.”
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