Fashion for Funds: Huge success!

I am happy to report that the Fashion for Funds event on Sunday was an unbelievable success.  Kate Reeve, the 12-yr-old girl who started it all, received a well-deserved standing ovation from the large crowd who came out on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a long weekend.  The space was standing room only by 1pm, 20 minutes before the fashion show was set to start.  The event ended up raising over $8000 to benefit the children's hospices-Rogers House and Canuck Place.  This was over $3000 more than the goal amount Kate had set out for herself to raise.

The teamwork between hair, makeup, designers and models was unbelievable.  Everyone worked together to make the event move as seamlessly as possible, and despite the many quick changes, in general the reports I heard from my friends who came out to watch said it looked great from their vantage point.  For those of us backstage, it was a hot and sticky cloud of hairspray and mayhem, but it worked!  Everyone was in a great mood, which is always key and the hair and makeup crew showed how well they work under pressure.  Max Keeping was a fantastic emcee, occupying the crowd while we ran around backstage getting our collections in order.  DJ Ilon also volunteered his time and did a great job with the music.  Everyone involved worked so hard without complaint, showing what we can accomplish with solid teamwork and great direction.

Here are a few photos of some of my favourite looks on the runway:

Jana Hanzel



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz



Rachel Sin



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz



Undone Clothing 



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz



Shweta Wahi



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz



And myself

(I get three, mmkay?)

Nautical Swimwear



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz



Le Midi (French Riviera)



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz



La Belle Epoque



Photo credit:  Greg Kolz


I tried my best to amalgamate my three collections into a somewhat cohesive line for the show, but discovered it was pretty difficult.  I decided to go with a 70s feel, because that sort of worked with all three.  I asked Ilon to use disco-inspired beats for the music and had a whole makeup and hair concept involving modern day Farrah Fawcett-esque 'dos and natural, bronzed, girl-next-door faces.  Unfortunately, when you are sharing models with 4 other designers, each with their own concept, and when you are dead last in the lineup it just doesn't work out how you want it to...so a few of the girls came out with not-so-70s hair AT all.  Oh well, you live and you learn...

Thank you to those who were able to make it out to the event, blogged about it, talked about it or shared it on Facebook and Twitter.  It is thanks to everyone who had an interest in the show and the story behind it for making it such a great success.  Kate has already begun talking about making the event an annual affair.  All I know is that I am there as a designer or as a spectator-whichever she would prefer.

xo Amber