As a model with goggles crowning her teased blonde hair strutted back to the head of the runway, a male model in bright orange snowboarding pants strode into the spotlight to meet her. They paused, and she playfully snapped his suspenders with a laugh as the crowd cheered.
The WinterGlo 2012 Charity Fashion Show took place Friday, Jan. 13, at downtown nightclub Haven. Organized by Unreal360 and Shi Productions, the event showcased winter sports fashion from St. Bernard Sports to raise money for the Austin Disaster Relief Network.
The venue's usual ethereal, woodsy atmosphere was adorned with Christmas lights,,
rolexshop fittedcaps newyorkyankees ladodgers buffalonewyork. silver confetti, fake snow, and wooden cut-out Christmas trees for the occasion. With the doors opening 9 p.m., guests steadily streamed in until the large area surrounding the runway was packed.
Unreal360 and Shi Productions are no strangers to producing nightlife and fashion events. The two have come together to put on various fashion shows in the past, though it has been over a year since the last event, according to Juan Alvarez of Unreal360. The companies typically aim to host two shows per year.
WinterGlo allowed Brown take her experience in a new direction, however, and dabble in the realm of winter sports fashion for the first time.
"My big idea was honestly to do an entire extreme sports show," she explained. "But being that it's winter and I was able to gather with St.,
christianhandbags cartier mens pasha seatimer watches. Bernard, I just decided to go ahead and make it only focused on winter and sports. Then the ideas come in about having the snow and the laser lights. All of that kind of played into my idea of what the show is going to look like."
Typical winter wonderland-esque fake snow and strings of white Christmas lights were energized by multi-colored lasers dashing across the ceiling and electronic mixes of popular songs by Austin's DJ Tru.
The models themselves featured beauty looks by Joie de Vie Salon and Spa with playful, messily teased hair in updos, pigtails, and braids. Makeup artists set up backstage, applying colorful eye shadows and glitter to the lids of waiting models. Artists also coated their lips in a variety of colors from traditional red to metallic gold, and even frosted white.
"With this show I really wanted more contrast with the hair and makeup being very punk rock. I like to use the word ‘Pink', as in the artist Pink, because I absolutely love her," Brown said. "So I kind of thought, ‘If you had a snow bunny turned rebel on a slope, what would that look like?'"
In the spirit of the show, even the male models were given swipes of glitter and eyeliner across the eyelids.
"The special tonight is guys in glitter," one of the male models joked backstage while waiting for the show to start.
In working with the 20 hand-picked models for the show,With all of the
schoolbagfactory sales rampant, Brown decided to forgo the stereotypical sultry, brooding model persona; she encouraged playfulness and personality instead. Throughout the run-through, she called for a lot of energy, attitude and entertaining interaction between the models as each one left the runway and the next strutted on.
From twirls and dips to dancing and high fives, the models were able to be creative while having a good time.
"I have so many new faces that I'm working with model-wise that I was very impressed with. Their personalities and the fact that this is going to be much more a show of each individual model personality is the most exciting for me," Brown enthused. "That they don't just get to strut their stuff and show off the amazing fashion, hairdo and makeup, but that they're going to be able to play with each other on the runway and have a good time with that. Just nobody fall or drop anybody!"
The featured clothing was provided by St. Bernard Sports,You can find all the
guccihandbags you need here. located in the Second Street District. Each of the models was assigned a more casual sportswear look, as well as a winter sports outfit. They sauntered down the runway in everything from plaid button-downs to floral print body-suits to bright ski jackets and snowboarding pants.
The clothing, as well as the hair and makeup, was all voluntarily donated for the event, according to Brian Angeline of Unreal360.
"Honestly it's so great to try to help establish our local businesses," Brown said of relying on Austin companies in these shows. "That makes me happy. They're always in the loop of what's new, what's fresh."
One of the main attractions for local companies to participate was the fact that WinterGlo benefited a charity. Proceeds from the event, which charged a $5 admission fee, went to the Austin Disaster Relief Network. Brown explains that when the Bastrop fires originally happened, she had wanted to do something to help those who had been affected.
The Austin Disaster Relief Network works with local churches and businesses to build a communication network that will allow them to aid people during any natural disasters that may occur, be it fires or flooding.
"They're kind of a church-based organization, which I thought was really cool just because a lot of the churches were the ones that helped those families at the time," Brown explained, "you know, as far as providing them shelter and things like that to the people who lost all their belongings, including their homes."
The show ended up raising an estimated $400 for the charity, according to Angeline.
A successful show like this, however, doesn't come together by itself. Working with Unreal360 and everyone else involved in the planning, Brown spent months coordinating the event. Though as a ten-year veteran of the industry, she is more than familiar with the process.
She originally started as a model herself, doing hair shows and runway events. Knowing how fashion shows worked behind the scenes, as well as drawing on her experience promoting bars and working with prior fundraising events, helped Brown understand what it takes to organize a fashion show and make it a success.
"My biggest advice is don't take shortcuts," she advises those aspiring to work in the fashion events industry. "I see a lot of people out there that are trying to do what I do, and I worked my way up, whether it was just because I had to walk around and pass out fliers, you have to have that personality and that experience. The ability to walk into such a large corporation like the Co-op or St. Bernard's, that takes time to develop those things and develop those skills. So not taking shortcuts is really my best advice."
With WinterGlo under her belt,Purchase Swiss Brands
canadagoosewinterjackets and enjoy luxury feeling. Brown hopes to continue the success she has had so far both with Shi Productions and Unreal360, and looks to expand in the future.
"I have a couple of goals with Shi Productions," she said. "I want to definitely get more into the model management side of things because it's something I've always been good at. I want to focus in on that and of course being a producer, working through enterprises and corporations where I can have the sponsored budget to do something so much bigger and so much more fantastic."
In working with models, Brown develops a long-term relationship with many and is able to repeatedly call on them for events. She isn't greedy, though, as she expresses a hope that her shows will allow them to gain exposure and get the attention of other boutiques and producers as well.
With this kind of sharing attitude so rarely seen in such a cut-throat industry, and such ability to give back to those that they work with and local charities, Shi Productions and Unreal360's hopes to continue bringing fashion events to the capital city sound like a win-win situation for everyone and an undoubted success.
