Fashion Show to Benefit Haiti
April 28, 2005

An innovative fashion show, sponsored by four student organizations at Calvin College, will improve health and living conditions in Haiti.

The "Love First Fashion Show 2005: Struttin' to Heal the World," which begins at 7:30 p.m. on April 30 in Calvin's Gezon Auditorium, will donate all of its proceeds to Partners in Health, a global organization that improves health care awareness and access in impoverished countries.

The admission charge for the event is $5 or $3 with a Calvin ID.

The fashion show is a joint effort of Calvin's Social Justice Coalition, Multicultural Student Development Organization, International Health and Development Club, and African-American Students Making a Difference Everywhere.

Partners in Health, founded by Dr. Paul Farmer (a speaker at last year's January Series at Calvin), is currently working on recovery efforts in Haiti in the devastating wake of Hurricane Jeanne in September of 2004.

"They promote public health and wellness," says [body photo omitted] Cheryl Brown (left), a Calvin student who helped plan the event. "They've spread awareness about prevention of HIV and TB. But one of the biggest things that they've done is they've empowered people to promote health in their own communities."

Brown, along with Calvin senior Gihane Jeremie, has organized a show that is both informative and fun. The evening's parade of fashion will gravitate from "jeans and solids" through "70s fashion," "casual business wear," "hip hop," "summer wear" and "evening wear."

Prior to intermission, the show's organizers will show an eight-minute video about Partners in Health and pass a donation basket. Following the intermission, in a segment titled "Ten-Minute Fashion," six audience members who have been given the materials to make their own outfits will model those creations for the crowd.

Clothes for the show, modeled by Calvin students, were lent by Venito, GR Menswear and The Buckle.

Some of the show's organizers, including Brown and Johanna Jelks (the daughter of Calvin history professor Randal Jelks), also designed outfits for the show. Jewelry comes from Carthesis, while Calvin alumnus Saraiah Powell will do the makeup for the show.

The idea for the fashion show came from a conversation between Brown and [body photo omitted] Jeremie (right) about the post-hurricane situation in Haiti. Both of Jeremie's parents were born and raised in Haiti prior to relocating in the U.S., and she wanted to provide some sort of relief for the country. Brown had already been praying along those lines.

"It's funny," she says, "because I had been previously thinking about raising funds. I knew I wanted it to go to Haiti, and I wanted it to be a fashion show - because I love fashion."

And there was another reason for the decision.

"We both come from African descent," says Jeremie. "It was important to us to sow our gifts back into our heritage."