Asha Ama Wants You To Come To BLINK With an Open Mind and a Good Outfit

Image by Rita DeRaedt

This year at BLINK, the festival’s iconic light projections will meet haute couture. Fashion designer Asha Ama, who has competed on two iterations of Project Runway and designed custom pieces for Lizzo’s “Special Tour,” is set to headline BLINK’s first-ever three night fashion show.

“[BLINK] is such a source of pride for Cincinnati to have the biggest light and art festival in the nation,” says Ama. “I’ve always wanted to share what I do as art, so when the opportunity presented itself, I was like, ‘Absolutely, let’s do it!’ ”

In a collection titled “Who Do You Say That I Am,” Ama presents pieces inspired by three life-changing eras, with the final night dedicated to her present day. A graduate of UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, she is embracing every step of her fashion journey including growing pains, imposter syndrome, and self-discovery—all of which are heavily inspired by coming of age in the Queen City. “Cincinnati is an integral part of my story; I think a lot of people sleep on my city,” she says. “It really formed who I am as a designer to this day.”

Ama teases that the first of the three nights has a clear nod to the city: It explors her childhood and what it means to be “unapologetically Black.”

“I grew up in Avondale in a Black side of town and went to all these mostly white private schools,” Ama recalls. “My dad made it a point to drill into me who I am as a person, so I never felt like I wasn’t good enough or I didn’t know where I belonged, or I had to pretend to be something that I wasn’t. That is such a huge part of my mission as a fashion designer and an artist, to encourage people to be who they are and be proud of who they are.”

Photograph by Marek Urbanski

Ama, however, is also taking this opportunity to showcase up-and-coming talent by featuring opening designers, those who are or have been a part of the DAAP fashion program.

“One of the things I am proud about is they are all young Black women, and in fashion, I didn’t see enough representation of myself growing up,” she explains. “This is going to be such a major moment to see all young Black women who are from Cincinnati or have strong ties to Cincinnati doing such beautiful work on such a large platform.”

The multi-media event will also include musical and dance performances by local artists, in addition to honoring BLINK’s tradition of using light as a creative medium. “We’ve really experimented with different ways to include light into these collections, whether it’s how light reflects off of fabric or metallics or whether it is more traditional for BLINK—LEDs, things like that.”

Even in such a large-scale production, Ama isn’t losing sight of the meaning behind her work, and her focus on identity and authenticity. “I hope my audience can reflect on their own lives and be grateful for the bad times as well as the good times and really take account of who they are and are they living their life authentically and if not, what can they do to get there,” Ama says. She recognizes that this hasn’t always been an easy feat for her community, elaborating on the importance of celebrating diverse voices.

“This is going to be a show that is put on by young Black women. A lot of times we have to fight for our spot or we feel like we can’t do this in Cincinnati, we have to go elsewhere to be celebrated. I’ve experienced those things, and I am grateful that BLINK is giving me a platform where I can rush that process for these young Black female designers and performers.”

Ama took the time to shout out Cincy Nice for partnering with her to create the show, in addition to an unexpected and sentimental collaborator in Richie’s Chicken & Soul. “They are doing such amazing things in our community. They surprised me the last time I was in Cincinnati with sponsoring our fashion show, so they’ve played a major role in supporting us and making sure we have everything we need,” she recalled. “It’s just really special to me because I grew up going to Richie’s and they’ve just been like new family to me.”

Experience “Who Do You Say That I Am” on October 18–20 on 15th Street, between Race and Republic. While admission is free, Ama reminds you to come free of expectation. “All I want is people to come in with an open mind and a good outfit on.”