Fitness Fashion Show @ Orleans Wellness Expo

Our First Lineups

Top: Foot Locker / Bottom: Kania Couture

Welcome, Orleans Wellness Expo goers. J&K will be your hosts today for the Fitness Fashion Show! (J&K being Jessica and Kristy). That's right everyone, I had the honour of hosting the Fashion Show along with the STARFISH intern.

Though we were made aware of our roles way in advance, i.e. a week in advance, which is plenty of time in the fashion industry, everything was still last minute. We didn't even receive one of the vendor's clothes and lineup until the day of the show!

This was my very first opportunity to really be involved in every aspect of such a project. Since I love lists, I'll just list out what my exciting role as fashion show coordinator entailed:

1. Contact potential companies/stores to request lending clothes. (A big difference here compared to when I was requesting samples for FASHION magazine. There, we wanted clothes, they'd give us clothes. Here, we had to explain in detail the purpose and such... which makes sense. But, I can definitely see a big difference with the big city.) Since the event was being held in Orleans, I focused on Orleans stores... and discovered that the mall doesn't have a GAP! That's a first.
2. I wasn't really feeling good vibes about vendors lending clothes to us but surprisingly, after being persistent with it, some big stores pulled through! Wahoo! I got Gap from Bayshore and Foot Locker from Orleans to join in on the fun.
3. I scheduled pick-up and delivery times with the stores (KANIA, Foot Locker, Gap, and Jockey Person to Person) as well as wrote a legal binding contract for each of them.
4. Meanwhile, the intern organized all the models scheduled and kept them updated with instructions to prep for the show.
5. Most stores picked their own outfits to show, but FOOT LOCKER let me pick outfits on my own. Though they weren't high-end luxury clothes, it's always fun to pick out things to wear without having to pay for them! (One of the male models liked his sweater I picked for him so much, that he said he'd go buy it after the show!) After receiving all the merchandise to for the show, I started selecting models for outfits and doing the lineup for the show!
6. Last minute prep of the script - what a rush, but it was a success! We even had fitness tips added into the mix.

We were (... well I was) nervous. It wasn't perfect. But overall, it was an adrenaline rush!

Living in vivid.

Fashion in Ottawa?

So now that I've gone back home... the one that I've yearned for since I was yanked from the womb 4 months ago but what seemed to be ages before, I've been hit with the harsh reality - TWS (Toronto Withdrawal Syndrome). Yes, though I boast my home city oh so much, Toronto has stolen a piece of my heart without me even knowing.

Leaving Toronto only made me more thirsty to find ANYTHING in fashion in Ottawa. Luckily, one of my besties introduced me to a wonderful events planning/marketing/communications company, STARFISH events while I was in Ottawa. I volunteered at some of their events like Fashion Cures A La Mode - an event where I met 2 Project Runway Canadian Designers! Well, anywho, I met up with their main contact/the voice of the company - Samantha Moonsammy to see what opportunities were available in Ottawa. To break it down, there's nothing here really. BUT, she did discuss with me an event coming up --> the Orleans Wellness Expo January 22nd @ the Shenkman Theatre. The best part? They're having a fitness fashion show. Not exactly the genre of clothes that make my eye sparkle, but hey, who doesn't love a little athleticism in their wardrobe!

So my task is to gather 10 outfits from several vendors for the show. Usually at the magazine, they have this massive master contact list with specific names for each company to get in contact with... so there's no loop around or passing on in terms of phone calls/duties. And, you know they'll definitely give samples if they have them. Here, in Ottawa, I basically hit the stores. A lot of them forwarded me head offices - which are like ALL in Toronto and some in Montreal. Things were looking meek, but today I got some confirmations from some big chain shops! Amazing. I'm super excited to see what they have in store - it'd be even more great if I could pick out the clothes.. you know if they need a hand / or eye / or opinion! Haha.

Well... that's all I have for now. I've got some other styling ideas flowing through my head, but I just have to find the resources to get me going.

Here's for now.

Let you know the aftermath of the event! Wahoo~