School of design – Recent BR High grad makes a name for himself in fashion

Christopher Rogers Jr. wasn’t your typical high-school senior. A student by day, he was a budding fashion designer by night.

As a recent graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Rogers, 18, has more than a handful of tasks on his laundry list of things to do, but he somehow manages to find the time to create elegant women’s clothing.

Along with classmate Julie Liu, Rogers created a line of women’s wear entitled Rogersliu. The line was featured in the Fall 2011 New Orleans Fashion Week runway shows and earned praise from spectators and senior designers alike at the popular event.

“The summer before that fashion week I saw that the deadline for applications had already passed, but I just said to myself, what the heck—and submitted one anyway,” Rogers says. “They called me back and said that they were waiting on someone special to showcase, and that we fit the bill.”

Rogers has been accepted into the Savannah College of Arts and Design for the fall and has expressed an interest in working in the industry for a short period of time before making the transition into a solo career as a fashion designer. Studying abroad could provide him further inspiration for his future lines.

“After I graduate, I would like to go to London for grad school,” he says. “If not, I still don’t want to dive into doing my line just yet. I would like to gain a little more experience from seasoned designers and professionals so that I can ensure that I am doing things right.”

With Baton Rouge High’s rigorous academic curriculum, it’s truly astonishing that someone would have the time to create more than 50 pieces and be featured in fashion shows throughout the city, but Rogers has sacrificed the time a normal teenager would spend participating in an extracurricular activity to craft the many outfits in his collection.

“When most people were playing sports, participating in clubs, babysitting or whatever it was that they wanted to do, this is what I did,” Rogers says. “This is therapeutic for me in a way, and it’s something I’m very passionate about doing. Not only that, my parents are very supportive as well.”

Recently, Rogersliu has become more of a passion project for Rogers alone, though he and Liu remain friends and she is still involved, just on a smaller level. In May, Rogers participated in Mode Fashion Week in Baton Rouge, a project of reality show star Anthony Ryan Auld of the hit show Project Runway. He expresses his hopes that being featured in this event that will garner his line some press and that he will gain some knowledge from Auld.

“I just floated in the back until I found the right time to introduce myself to him (Auld),” Rogers says. “We talked for a moment, and he told me that he had seen some of my work and would love to work with me.”

For updates on Roger’s projects, visit rogersliu.com.

America’s Next Top Model: College Edition, hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, kicked off on Aug. 24 with LSU student Darian Ellis hoping to strut, pose and style her way through the fierce competition. The 22-year-old Baton Rouge native and biological sciences major began modeling only recently, but turned plenty of heads at this year’s NOLA Fashion Week.

The 5’9” beauty earned a spot on the popular reality show based on an online vote, garnering praise from fans calling her “stunning,” “elegant” and an “exotic beauty.” Ellis is not allowed to give interviews until after the competition, but the show airs every Friday at 7 p.m. on the CW network, and for the first time, fans are allowed to vote on their favorites. cwtv.com/shows/americas-next-top-model