The majority of shops/designers are not going to have any of their 'Spring' collections in stock until the mid/end of January after they have cleared out their Winter/Christmas collections. You will be hard pressed to find companies who will want to participate in Nov simply because they won't want to look bad because they don't have the stock. (And who wants to look at Spring clothes in Nov?)
Mind you - if they are really bent on having on that date - why not make it a Party Attire Fashion Show? At least this keeps with the season a bit ...
Depending on who your audience is (is it just alums or collegians too? General Public?), this IS a busy time of year. When is the collegiate chapter having Initiations? This may conflict with their schedules & midterms. Being that Nov 23 is a Saturday, you are already starting to run into Christmas parties and plays.
Finally, will this be an evenings or daytime event? A lot of places have medium to larger sized facilities booked already for that time of year. If you have an idea where you want to have it, maybe see what their availablity is like.
You are right - Sept, Jan, May are usually the best time to holds functions like this.
Good Luck !!
