For Nita and Jack Enoch, the annual fashion show is one of many reasons that VCU ‘enriches the experience of living here’

By Chelyen Davis

Jack Enoch and Nita Enoch are serious about the art they collect - largely modern pieces, ranging from Virginia artists like Nancy Witt and Barbara Tisserat to Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso.

They have to agree on a piece before they purchase it for their home near Virginia Commonwealth University's campus. They are both drawn to contemporary interpretations of classic themes and art that provokes thought.

But they also appreciate the way art brings them joy. Their home collection may include a Chagall and a Miró, but it also has a cobalt blue likeness of the Venus de Milo and a set of iconic Pedro Friedeberg gold leaf hand chairs.

The Enochs' appreciation for creativity and whimsy in the midst of serious art is the reason they are among the VCU School of the Arts annual spring fashion show's long-standing major supporters: because it's art, and it's also fun.

"It really is spectacular. You can imagine it being Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel. It's a lot like you would imagine that would be, and VCU and the students just do it so well," Jack said. "The way they present it, it's really, really fun. Every year we'll come back and I will say, 'That was really fun.' We need to support that as much as we can."

For Nita, who received her bachelor's in interior design from VCU in 1998 and runs an interior design business, the patterns and palettes of fashion inform her own work.

"It's really fun to see what these students imagine when they're putting on a fashion show," she said, "and to see how they turn that passion and creativity into a wearable work of art."

A tradition that stretches back decades

The fashion show is the pinnacle of the year for students in VCUarts fashion design and merchandising courses. After studying elements of fashion like fabric choices and the difference in a variety of designs of clothing items, juniors and seniors create their own concepts, and a jury selects which entries make it into the event. At the show, the students' work is walked down the runway before an audience of hundreds.

The fashion show actually predates VCU itself - one of the university's predecessors, Richmond Professional Institute, held a fashion show dating back decades. Over time, it has changed venues, but the show has been at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for the past several years. In 2026, it was split into two separate shows, each featuring 80 handcrafted garments accompanied by videos of the students' behind-the-scenes design process. Due to upcoming construction at the VMFA, the 2027 show will move to The Branch Museum of Design.

Support from donors like the Enochs makes it possible for the school to have the show be free for design students and their families. And their contributions allow the School of the Arts to create a professional-level fashion show.

"It makes it possible to produce the show. … We can't do it all on our shoestring budget," said professor Kim Guthrie, chair of the Department of Fashion Design + Merchandising, explaining that support helps pay for the runway, the lighting and other aspects of a professional fashion show. "[Donors] take the experience and make it something we would never be able to attain on our checkbook."

Just as importantly, Guthrie said, financial support signals to the students that someone is interested in their work.

"This is a collection of people who find this so precious and special and worthy that they give their money," she said. "If [students] learn that someone they never knew supported them, ideally it would help them have that kind of behavior later in their life."

The Enochs say they've both always had an interest in fashion and what it communicates. For Nita, her love of beautiful clothes goes back to childhood, watching her grandmother and great-aunt dress in picture hats and white gloves to go out. For Jack, a career in financial services has shown him how a person's clothing can impact how they're perceived and treated by others.

An appreciation for what art can do

Neither of the Enochs grew up in families that emphasized art. Over the years, the two have taken art history classes at VCU that helped fuel their interest.

The first major piece of art the couple bought together was a painting by Nancy Witt, a nationally recognized painter from Ashland, Virginia, whose self-described meta-realism appealed to them. It still hangs in their home, and they estimate that about half of their pieces are from local artists.

The couple have lived on VCU's doorstep since the year Nita graduated. Over those years, they've become more and more involved with the university next door and the Richmond art community that it anchors.

"VCU, obviously they've been a major driver of the arts here in Richmond and just have such a presence," Jack said. "It creates a connection in the community. … Hands down, this is a richer place to live because VCU is there. It just enriches the experience of living here so much."

The Enochs have supported the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU since its inception and are members of the Pollak Society, a group of art enthusiasts who support VCUarts philanthropically. The couple appreciate how VCU makes art more accessible - and how art changes how people view the world.

"We love being involved in the arts community," Nita said. "Whether it's visual arts or music or theater, art has the ability to change your perceptions and your attitudes. It's just important."