FAMU's Marching 100 preparing to perform at Fashion Week in Paris. Here's what we know
If there was ever any doubt about the global reputation of Florida A&M University's "incomparable" Marching 100 band, that has been erased by fashion industry giant Louis Vuitton.
The multi-billion dollar company has invited the band to perform at the Louis Vuitton Men’s Paris Fashion Week Show in France on June 23 during an all-expense-paid trip.
“As soon as the news broke, my parents called me to ask if I was going to Paris with the band,” said Jadon Roberts, a spring 2022 FAMU graduate and returning drum major from Atlanta, Georgia, who will be going on the trip. “I didn’t have to tell them about it, they already knew.”
The selected band members will be performing during a 30-minute segment in the fashion show with a special surprise artist, all while wearing trademark Louis Vuitton apparel.
Band members who are currently out of town will return to Tallahassee by Wednesday for rehearsals on June 15, 16 and 17 before their flight the next day. All flights are scheduled to depart from Atlanta on Saturday.
FAMU's Director of Bands and Professor of Music Shelby Chipman received the invitation from Max Leader, a representative of the company, on May 31.
“I picked up the call and the gentleman said he was representing Louis Vuitton. They’ve seen our videos, and they wanted us to perform at the Men’s Fashion Show in Paris,” Chipman said in a prepared statement. “I almost dropped the phone. I’m just so excited for our students to have this opportunity.”
Louis Vuitton is a luxury fashion brand. A previous Paris fashion show held by the company in January attracted many celebrities, including Venus Williams, Dave Chappelle and Naomi Campbell, who walked the runway. Paris Fashion Week is a series of designer presentations held twice a year where famous brands hold their shows.
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All expense paid trip to Paris for 35 of the 100
Design and production agency We Love Art will be sponsoring the trip, according to Chipman. The expenses being covered include flights, meals and hotel accommodations, leaving the students and staff with no required costs to pay.
Representatives of Louis Vuitton and We Love Art have been unavailable to speak to about the event.
Although the Marching 100 consists of over 200 band members, the invitation is for 35 of them to perform. Ten accompanying staff who usually travel with the students will be joining them, including Chipman, Assistant Director of Bands Shaylor James and Chairman of the Music Department and Band Arranger Lindsey Sarjeant.
"I honestly didn’t even think I was going to get the chance to go,” said Stephanie Brown, a second-year FAMU student and rank sergeant from Orlando, Florida who plays the trumpet. “I’m only a sophomore, and I thought other students would probably get the chance before I did."
How the band is preparing for the big day
Chipman selected students during an emergency meeting about the opportunity via Zoom. Appointed section leaders were chosen first before moving on to the other members who were able to go.
All the sections that are normally represented, from drum majors and flags to piccolos, clarinets, saxophones and percussions were also considered to determine which students would be selected.
With the trip to Paris being in just a few days, the band is getting ready as quickly as possible. A rehearsal is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on campus.
Students and staff who have expired passports are being assisted by the Miami Passport Agency and the Atlanta Passport Agency to expedite the renewal process.
To follow CDC requirements, the band and staff members will also need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours before flying to France.
Not their first time in Paris
Paris's fandom for the Tallahassee community's marching bands goes back as far as 1989 when the Marching 100 was invited to perform in the Bastille Day Parade to celebrate the French Revolution’s 200th anniversary. More recently, Florida State University's Marching Chiefs was invited in 2019 to perform in France’s D-Day Normandy Parade.
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Marching 100 band members also performed in the 2021 NFL Super Bowl pregame concert in Tampa last September and the 2021 NBA Allstar Game in Atlanta.
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“It’s wonderful for the Marching '100' to return to Paris for the Louis Vuitton Fashion Show as they did for Bastille Day in 1989,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said in a statement. “The Marching '100' is symbolic of the excellence of FAMU students and the expertise and care of our Music Department faculty and staff. We can’t wait to see them wow the city of Paris once again.”
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Chipman was one of the students who performed in the 1989 parade, which marked his last performance with the band.
“I’m just so elated for us to have this opportunity to go back to Paris in the kind of fashion that we're going back to this time, which is a little bit different from the last time where we had to go for the parade,” Chipman said. “You can even feel the momentum starting to pick up day by day here in the Tallahassee area now that it's a set thing that we're going.”
While in Paris, rehearsals for the fashion show will take place on June 19, 20, 21 and 22. The students will perform at the Louvre Museum on June 23 at 2:30 p.m. GMT+2, or 8:30 a.m. ET. After performing, the band and staff members will fly back to Atlanta on June 24.
The show will be live-streamed through the Paris Fashion Week's website at https://parisfashionweek.fhcm.paris/en/shows/louis-vuitton-6/.
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida A&M Marching 100 will be at Paris Louis Vuitton Fashion Show
