The Fashion House

THE FASHION HOUSE

After some consideration as to if it is worthwhile blogging on an event that happened months ago, I have decided that for the mere fact it was a fashion show and a fund-raiser for Give A Child Hope's child-friendly antivirals and the University of Bradford's Student's Union Haiti Housing project, then regardless of how long ago it was I owe it to the public to blog about it.

To give you an idea of what The Fashion House was about, I'd briefly touch on the organisers, (of which I was a member) and the sponsors.

The Bradford University Red Ribbon Society is one of many university societies that take it upon their youthful shoulders to bring about an increased awareness on the realities of HIV/AIDS around the world and our smaller individual communities.  The society is in its first year having only been fully acknowledged by the Students Union as an active society.  I have been the Secretary so far from it formation, constitution writing and its events.  Fund-raising in a predominantly student community can be quite a challenge and this was no exception.  

The Fashion House was created to showcase the pieces of talented students and professionals of fashion and design from around the UK and by so doing attract a large enough audience to raise funds.  It sounds pretty straightforward on paper and logically it should also be very straight forward.  It challenge however to confirm as many designer months ahead and keep reminding them that they have a commitment; it also involves recruiting students to be models and getting hair and make-up artists to make it look like the real thing. Oh it also involves getting acts like rappers, poets, singers, dancers to fill in the blank spaces in the program line-up and kill time as the models get changed.  With a large organising group I'm proud to say everything went to plan.

We had to have meetings with the university concerning health and safety issues, we had to ask for funding from the campaign budget of the Students Union and get our lights, stage and equipment hire all paid for and on time by the Students Union. So all in all, backstage was pretty hectic chasing up paperwork and returning phone-calls or leaving voice messages just to make sure that nothing is left to chance.

The project of raising money was initially all about funding Give A Child Hope, the development of the University of Bradford's Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation (IPI) but because we were seeking assistance from the Student Union we also had to make a commitment to their Haiti Housing Project and thus the fund-raiser was for both projects.  The Students Union then became our sponsors and without their valued contribution the show could not have been.

"We were able to raise £534 from the night, and in my opinion that is a very big statement of commitment and support from the audience and I know this will go a long way in saving the lives of children or helping rebuild the lives of the Haitian people affected by the earthquake."

A few pictures I've been able to add from the build up of the show.