Students make charity fashionable

Naomi Freeman
Contributor
The overhead lights dimmed. The spotlights came on. The music started pounding – kind of.
At the 2011 Schulich Charity Association’s Fashion Show, “Nouveau,” things didn’t always go as planned. Quite often, the wrong screen was being projected, audio from video presentations was cut off, microphones were the wrong size, weren’t on or were at the wrong volume and, part-way through the night, someone even started manning the projector with a white sheet of paper.

“They should have linked the videos together. I could have done that,” one audience member commented.
Still, the night can be called a success. Held at the Underground Jan. 20, the show is the SCA’s pinnacle annual event. The SCA is a group of business students applying their business know-how to charitable causes. With Nouveau, the group raised $5,018 in proceeds for MukiBaum Treatment Centres, which provide services for those dealing with complex disabilities.
Michael Goldfarb, director of sponsorship, has volunteered at MukiBaum for several years and brought together MukiBaum and the SCA executives. This past fall, members of the group volunteered at the centre itself, dedicating their time to the community outreach program.
“I just want to thank you for the difference you have made today,” Ashley Grant, fundraising manager at MukiBaum, told the audience. “Sometimes people don’t know how to get involved or feel like they don’t have the time, but com- ing out for an evening of enter- tainment like this is one way you can do something great.”
The show presented some of Toronto’s up-and-coming boutiques, designers and future models. The premise of Nouveau was “art meets glamour and style,” and it delivered.
Several York talent acts also performed between fashion sets: guitarist and singer James Perkins, returning singer Dia, singers Jordan Woods and Bianca Boldis- teanu and Schulich’s very own rock band, the Debits and the Credits (minus the two lead singers).
SPOTLIGHT ON YORK TALENT
An interview with designer Paulina Su
After the show, Excalibur had a chance to interview third-year visual arts and concurrent education student Paulina Su, whose designs were spotlighted at the show. The SCA was her first show for her iiNa line.
What was your first fashion show like?
It was the debut of my line. It was exciting because it was the first time I did something this big. I feel weird calling myself a fashion designer.
How did you prepare?
It was very difficult. For the past three weeks I had to put my extra-curriculars on semi-hold, and my academic life came to a slow crawl while I was constantly sewing and sewing and sewing. I would sew between classes and all night. It was insane. I was surprised [by] how much work and intense labour it was, just how many hours it takes to prepare for a five-minute runway section.
How did you get into fashion?
I started altering clothes I already had when I was in high school, just little alterations and, from that, went to craftster.org. I would post up these alterations and started getting a good response.
I looked at other people’s designs, too, and we learned from each other, sharing ideas and concepts, different ways of sewing and tying things together. Then I started altering things for my younger brother and sister, who were going through growth spurts at the time. Soon, whatever relatives had lightly damaged clothes, they’d pass it to me and I’d do cool things for them so the clothes weren’t wasted.
How do plastic arts and fashion connect for you?
I’m a visual arts major and I see it as an extension of my artsy side. I don’t see it as only fashion. My art and fashion are spontaneous. I don’t do endless amounts of sketching and planning. I let my fabrics and my paintings be what they want to be.
Are you thinking of fashion school after York?
I don’t think I would be in a fashion school. I took a fashion class in high school and it was so restricting. We did a pyjama set and I felt like I was in a box – we had to use this pattern and cut it exactly five centimetres and be perfectly straight and I would get in trouble because I had two stitches too many. I don’t feel like it’s an environment where I’d be able to nurture my artsy side. If I make it big, I wouldn’t do it through a fashion school. I’d rather look on YouTube or forums and learn from there and others versus by the book.
What is your design process like?
Patterns scare me. I do use them once in a while, I guess. None of the things I do [are] planned. Everything is spontaneous. I just cut and hope that it works.
Tell us a bit about your current work.
My speciality would be reconstructive clothing. I do use fabric, even in the line I showed. There are some pieces I used new fabric when I couldn’t find a particular colour or something I needed in my clothing stash. I buy the ends or whatever catches my eye or I feel a connection with. I wouldn’t buy or take something I didn’t have a connection with.
What is a typical fashion day for you?
I’m not always fashionable. Sometimes I go to class in sweatpants and a heavy sweater. When I am feeling fashionable, I like to be colour-coordinated. I put a lot of basics together but with fun accessories like vests, funky hair clips and other accessories.