By Matt SpectorThe Daily Northwestern
As camera bulbs flashed and techno music thumped, Northwestern students sauntered down the catwalk at Saturday’s Voice for Asia Fashion Show.
About 80 people attended the event, raising about $500, organizers said.
“The clothing looked great, I was really impressed with the Chicago designers and I think the models looked great,” said Medill freshman Chris Adamson.
The show was one of several fundraising events leading up to Voice for Asia’s annual concert this Sunday. All the money raised on Saturday night and at Voice for Asia’s other events will go to UNICEF and China Care Foundation to support AIDS orphans in China.
The show featured collections by Francesca’s Collections, 1706 Maple Ave., and Chicago Fashion Week designer Nasaani. NU’s Mirch Masala dance group and ReFRESH Dance Crew performed during breaks between fashion collections.
Weinberg freshman Francesca Chia, one of the event’s organizers, said bringing together the elements of the show, including lighting and sound, was a challenge. She said the search for clothing designs required “e-mailing 50 people” and handing out pamphlets to local vendors.
“To secure designers was the hardest thing,” Chia said. “Francesca’s was really nice and Nasaani replied instantly. We had to improvise and add a cultural (collection).”
A third collection included international clothing contributed from multicultural organizations on campus. Models posed in designs from Thailand, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea and India while Daft Punk’s “Around the World” played in the background.
The shows’ emcees, McCormick senior Albert Leung and McCormick junior David Chen, did not let a power outage in the middle of the show put a damper on the event. Leung and Chen made jokes and entertained the crowd while organizers rushed to restore power.
Leung, who hosted the Chinese New Year event “Celebrasia” earlier this year, said emceeing Saturday’s show in Parkes Hall was different.
“It was smaller audience and a little more cozy,” Leung said. “I knew a lot of people here, and it was a really fun and encouraging environment.”
The fashion show included a presentation from activist and Swarthmore College senior Bella Liu. Liu described her experience visiting China and developing her “China Memory Book Project” to help AIDS orphans retain memories of their parents. She urged the attendees to help AIDS communities in China deal with the poverty and stigma that often follow an AIDS epidemic through activism and awareness.
Communication freshman Brittany Park walked the runway for her first time at the event. Park is a member of NU’s Ladycats varsity dance team, and said walking down the runway was like one of her dance performances.
“Being a dancer, it was kind of like doing a dance, but all you’re doing is walking and posing,” she said.
Park said the other models were “beautiful or handsome” and that the show’s backstage area was “chaotic.”
“You came up and did your thing, and you had just 10 seconds to change,” she said. “They had (the clothes) really organized so it was good.”
Voice for Asia is an joint venture of several Asian student organizations on campus: the Asian Pacific American Coalition, China Care, Cilipadi, Japan Club, Kaibigan, Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, the Korean American Students Association, Niteskool, Singaporeans and Friends and the Taiwanese American Students Club.
Reach Matt Spector at [email protected].
