The Boston University Fashion and Retail Association (FAB) painted the town pink Saturday night with a fashion show held in partnership with non-profit breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen.
The show, appropriately titled “La Vie en Rose,” was held in the Metcalf Ballroom of the George Sherman Union and featured clothing by 12 student designers, as well as lines from corporate brands Ministry of Supply and Haute Hippie. Fifty percent of the proceeds were donated to Susan G. Komen Massachusetts.
Also featured was guest speaker Catie Fauvelle, the development director for Susan G. Komen Massachusetts. Fauvelle said part of the organization’s mission in combating breast cancer is to raise awareness and educate the public about the illness. The partnership between FAB and Komen, she said, was integral to helping the organization meet that goal.
“It’s huge for us,” Fauvelle said. “We feel that breast cancer is a huge thing that so many people are touched by, especially young women, so we’re honored that FAB chose to partner with us for their fashion show.”
That outreach hit a crowd of about 300, according to organizers. Guests paid $10 at the door, and in exchange, were treated to an hour-and-a-half of fashion, food, drinks, raffles and live music performed by local band Migrant Motel. Raffle prizes included designer handbags, sunglasses and watches, and proceeds from raffle ticket sales were also donated to Susan G. Komen.
What makes FAB unique, its members hold, is that it offers BU students an outlet for creative design while also incorporating elements of business and marketing. The fashion show is the culmination of a semester’s worth of work.
“It’s like a job,” said Zahra Shivji, a sophomore in the College of General Studies and the public relations manager for FAB. “I think FAB is like my full-time job, and school is my part-time job.”
FAB is also currently the only available channel at BU for people interested in fashion design or retailing.
“BU doesn’t have any kind of fashion major, so it really provides an outlet for people who are interested in the industry, both on the business side and the creative side, to express that,” said FAB president Alex Hough, a senior in the Questrom School of Business.
Hough also expressed pride in FAB’s partnership with Susan G. Komen, reflecting on the importance of including charity as an intrinsic component of the fashion show, a new tradition that the club started with last semester’s show.
“Our previous show, we had a much smaller donation system for a cause. We had a table outside where we were collecting donations to help pay for school uniforms for kids in Africa, and it went down really well,” Hough said. “People seemed to really like it, so we decided to take it a step further. We thought, let’s make the whole show about a cause, and pick a theme that’s really based around that cause.”
According to Hough, the pink theme made sense for a show centered on Susan G. Komen, an organization that has used the color pink to represent breast cancer awareness since its inception in 1982. FAB vice president Rebecca Rose, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, echoed Hough’s sentiments, noting that the show was also a valuable opportunity to demonstrate the value of charity and community involvement to other BU students.
“The reason why we did something with Susan G. Komen is because we believe fashion can easily become a very materialistic industry,” Rose said. “It’s not always necessarily about giving. It’s about wearing and buying, so we wanted to incorporate something that would actually give back to the community.”
Many of FAB’s members said they feel that a show organized by students, including student designers and models, also holds tremendous value in and of itself.
“You get to see your fellow students,” said David Lowe, a Questrom junior and FAB strategic advisor and model. “That’s the great thing about this show is they’re all student designers. A lot of people who are designers now, they never would have considered it before, but they saw others doing it and they tried it and now they love it. It’s great. Events like this open your mind to new things.”
Valerie Lenzi, a sophomore in Questrom, was one of the student designers whose designs were featured on the runway Saturday. Her line, “Barbie’s Closet,” was inspired by her mother, Barbara, a 10-year cancer survivor. Lenzi said she was heartened by the execution of such a grandiose benefit by a single group of students.
“It makes it all that much more impressive,” she said. “The fact that students were able to pull this off is incredible to me, and it makes events like this a lot more exciting.”
