Student Activities Boards Partners with Branden’s Closet to Create a Fashion Show

BY: JAEQWON SUAREZ / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

(Photo Credit: SAB Poster)

On Thursday, April 2, the local thrift store Branden’s Closet produced a fashion show displaying some of their clothing for the LIU Brooklyn students to see. 

In partnership with LIU Brooklyn’s Student Activities Board (SAB), audience members got the opportunity to see their peers on the Runway in Kumble Theatre, with performances sprinkled in with some of RocNation’s vocal performance and music, technology, entrepreneurship, and production majors.

The event lasted for about 3 hours, with the fashion show taking place earlier in the evening before the students could buy some of the clothes that appeared on the runway, plus more that weren’t shown in Kumble Theatre.

The owner of Branden’s Closet, Jordan Enriquez, was able to step aside and provide a brief explanation of how the thrift store came to be, as well as what he’s been doing to help the local Brooklyn community.

“For me, it was a way to give back to the college community,” Enriquez expressed. He discussed how SAB came to him with the idea of the Fashion Show event while also promoting his clothing store and brand.

“Giving back to kids that I saw myself in at one point in my life and being able to help out and give back was such an amazing experience.”

Branden’s Closet is named after Enriquez’s late brother, Branden Enriquez, who unfortunately suffered from a brain injury. He was then bedridden for the next eight years before passing in late 2022.

“My family and I started this whole idea of creating a vintage store. He was always in mind. If you think about him, when you look at me, it’s a very similar image,” Enriquez explained.

Branden was an influential person in Enriquez’s life, ranging from sports to fashion and everything in between.

“This store [Branden’s Closet] is a way for us to commemorate him and his legacy here,” Enriquez finished.

The vintage store, however, wasn’t always the plan for Enriquez. It was a spur-of-the-moment back then, but in reality, he grew up influenced by fashion from his mom and brother, so the thrift store naturally became more of a realistic idea rather than a dream.

“If we go back to when I was in high school, I was always going around with my brother and shopping around,” Enriquez starts. “We were always into fashion. Like, my mom was taking us to different stores and bringing us into the city to go shopping. But I never thought it would lead to something like this. I’m glad it did.”

This is not the only pop-up that Branden’s Closet has done, as they have traveled from Brooklyn and even raised funds for people in Jamaica when the hurricane hit in late October of 2025.

“There’s always opportunity to be more involved. For example, the relief fund we did for Jamaica hits home because my family is from Jamaica. So when I heard about the storm, it hit home a little harder. So from there, I thought ‘how could we give back and give proceeds from the store to go towards that.’ So that’s what we did with the relief fund.”

Enriquez also explained that this event marks the first time they’ve done a runway show for the thrift store, describing it as an exciting and fun experience that he could hopefully do again in the future.

“Looking back at it, it was great just to see everyone wearing the clothes,” Enriquez described. “Everything comes together on people’s outfits and bodies, like that’s the name of the game itself really.”

Though it hasn’t always been easy for Enriquez and his family since the passing of his late brother, he still managed to push forward and honor Branden in the best way he knew how.

What started off as a weird moment in Enriquez’s life quickly turned into a store full of memories of his brother, his passions, and the legacy and story he leaves behind with his family.

Currently, Enriquez plans to do more pop-ups with Branden’s Closet and get more engaged with the community, with an open mind to collaborating with LIU Brooklyn again for another night of fashion and music.