Austin K. Pope is a Junior Business Administration major from Kansas City, Missouri who is a Student Ambassador, Vice President of the Sociology Social Awareness Club and current Runway Coach for Alcorn State University’s very own T.R.E.N.D. Modeling Squad. T.R.E.N.D. is an acronym which stands for Truly Recognizing and Embracing Natural Differences.
“I love what T.R.E.N.D. stands for. In the model world, everyone is expected to be a certain way. In T.R.E.N.D. we want our models to be one hundred percent themselves,” stated Pope.
Being reared in Kansas City, Pope was always into fashion. He took his love for fashion with him all the way through high school. It was while he was in high school that he got a job and began exploring his own unique style. He recalls, “Back in high school, I was a sneakerhead. I loved wearing tennis shoes and nice shirts. This was the beginning of my fashion experience.”
He continued to explore fashion and his own personal style throughout high school and on into college where he joined T.R.E.N.D. in 2016. “I love T.R.E.N.D. Honestly we are all one big happy family. Of all the organizations that I am apart of nothing compares to the close vibes that T.R.E.N.D. possesses. We have our ups and downs but overall I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Pope stated.
Even though he has a lot of love for modeling and T.R.E.N.D., he made it abundantly clear that modeling is not as easy as it looks. He says, “It can get very hectic backstage but that’s where all the memories are made. We don’t have a lot of space to change and because of that it can tend to get very hot in the dressing room between all the body heat and curling irons and sometimes tempers may begin to flare. But at the end of the day we’re still a close knit group.”
Pope will be taking on the role of president of T.R.E.N.D. in the Fall of 2018 because T.R.E.N.D.’s current president Raymond Banks will be graduating in May of 2018. “Raymond has done a great job. When I become president, we can only follow the legacy and go up. I want to expand and try new things. However, most importantly, I want to keep the models humble. If we lose that, then we aren’t T.R.E.N.D.,” he stated.
Although Pope will be graduating soon, he’s looking forward to future experiences with T.R.E.N.D, possible modeling opportunities outside of T.R.E.N.D. and trying his hand at business management.