Don't be late for a very important date. The Fashion Club is having its "Alice in Wonderland"-inspired annual fashion show to showcase the work of local designers and raise money for the Dress for Success organization.
The theme for the annual show is "We're All Mad Here," and the club makes it clear that it won't be an exclusively Wonderland-themed event. Rather, the club wants to play off of the fun and quirkiness that comes along with it.
"Having it [dubbed] as an ‘Alice in Wonderland' theme is almost constraining," says Bessie Sycip, senior nursing major and a model for the show. "We [instead] wanted to be inspired by it. Fashion is about breaking boundaries."
The runway itself is also more outlandish than usual this year. The club is reusing a part of the "Island of Slaves" stage in order to incorporate a square shape rather than a generic runway. There will also be props on the stage for the models to interact with.
The show involves more than 50 students, including roughly 25 models, 10 officers and close to 20 other students in other roles. Theater majors will help prepare the lighting and runway; photography and graphic design majors are handling the promotional posters. The show is entirely student-run and has been a year in the making.
"It's been a lot of pressure," says Junqi Fam, sophomore marketing and international studies major. "[When] you do something you really like, you find time to do it."
Sycip admits to having the least stressful job to prepare for the show, but the models still do have to prepare. To help them, Andrew Hoge, junior management and international business major, sends the models videos of runway walks to practice. Hoge has professional training with the New York-based modeling agency Elite, known for representing Tyra Banks.
"I do go down the hall secretly and practice [my walk]," Sycip says.
Sycip notes that the club does an excellent job promoting positive body image for the models, and the club makes a point of noting that they accept models of all sizes with any level of experience.
The Fashion Club chose to benefit a local organization using clothing to promote positive self-image. The Seattle branch of Dress for Success provides disadvantaged women with business suits and helps them find work to support themselves. When a woman finds work, she is allowed to come back in to be fitted for another suit.
Every year the club donates the show's proceeds to the organization. Last year they raised more than $1300. Elise Blaylock, senior marketing major and Fashion Club vice president, is a volunteer at Dress for Success, and as a fashion lover she understands the impact clothes can have on people.
"Dress for Success [gives women] an opportunity to use fashion to their advantage," Blaylock says.
The club has built professional relationships with other local boutiques and designers such as Suzabelle, Habitude Salon and Neodandi.
Neodandi is a Seattle-based designer whose its Web site describes its clothing as "Audrey Hepburn meets Sid Vicious."
"We are very excited to showcase [Neodandi] to SU Students. Their designs are very out of the box," says Sarah Butler, senior humanities and visual arts major and fashion club president.
Fam is excited about all of the designers' offerings. He is the clothing committee officer who helps style the models for the show with the pieces the designer's loan to the club.
"The clothes [for the show] are very clean-cut, beautiful and contemporary," Fam says.
Fittings for the clothes in the show are not held until a few days before the event, in order to showcase the designers' latest pieces. They want students attending the show to be able to see the latest inventory at the boutiques.
Butler sees the fashion show as an opportunity to show off some of the great designers around the city.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about Seattle fashion—it's more than Northface," Blaylock says.
The fashion show will be held at the Lee Center for the Arts April 1 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Brittany may be reached at traubb@seattleu.edu
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