Unity Charity Fashion show celebrated its 5th anniversary Saturday in the Louis room. All proceeds went to Playing for Change, a foundation that supports music education for underprivileged children.
Model Ebony Page gets her hair done for the show. “We wanted to be a little bolder,” said Rob Han, director of clothing, “and attempt a compromise between the Northwestern fashion scene, maybe bring it somewhere in the middle.”
Annie Hayford sits still as a make-up artist applies eye shadow to her lids. “It’s really fun to get your hair done, do your make-up, and just get be a model for a day.”
Steve Madden shoes line the wall in the men’s dressing room. Unity featured 10 central designers in the show, ranging from chain stores like Gap to Chicago boutiques like The Edit.
Kids These Days drummer Greg Landfair Jr. performs during the intermission. Other entertainment included giveaways from sponsors throughout the show.
Page adjusts her dress backstage. “I’ve never seen the show itself since I’m always backstage,” says Unity president Emerly Soong. “So essentially the show to me is what’s going on backstage, which is extremely chaotic, but nonetheless I love seeing that.”
The models put their hands together before beginning the show. “It brings alot of different groups of people together,” says Hayford. “You can tell by looking at all the different models it’s like people from totally different backgrounds, people from totally different friend groups, [that] kind of come together.”
Kate Popovec poses in Luxemi, a high end Indian apparel designer featured in the show. The South Asian Student Alliance also donated cultural clothing.
A male model reveals his patterned socks while modeling Vividbraille. “During our first meeting I went around and asked everyone why they were passionate about fashion,” said Soong, “and everyone said because it’s a way for them to express themselves.”
Senior Hayford shows off local Chicago boutique The Edit’s clothing. Hayford began as a Unity model her sophomore year, and has since worked her way up to junior model head.
All 21 models clap during the finale of the show. In total, Unity raised $1100 in ticket sales and $900 from fundraising events to go towards Playing for Change.