Halifax fashion show fundraiser brings country couture and community support, Friday

A fashion show fundraiser puts the spotlight on country couture and a good cause.

A one-night fundraiser event is celebrating Western-inspired fashion in Halifax this Friday.

“Rodeo Runway” is sending cowboy couture down the catwalk, with all proceeds going to Alice House, an organization offering support, counselling, and safe housing to women and children recovering from abuse.

“We’ve really been focusing on creating lifestyle events for people in our community around things people love, like music, fashion,” Jen Glass, the events manager for Grafton Connor Group, told CTV News.

On Friday night at 7 p.m., the group will transform the Neon Armadillo nightclub into a runway.

“We have a silent auction. We have a whole whack of people that have donated to the silent auction,” said Glass. “Seven Virtues, Royal LePage and the list goes on. But we have six incredible designers. We have House of Moda, we have Stokeduds, we have One Off Dsign. We have Plato’s Closet, Jay Boyne Western Wear, and myself, Jenimartwear.”

Glass said she was mind blown by the amount of donations the received for the silent auction.

“Our community is very good at getting back,” said Glass. “It’s been proven and over and over again by all these events, all these different places throughout the community is always willing to support the community.”

Jaaziel Ugbebor, designer for Stokeduds, wanted to take part in this fashion show for several reasons.

“I think when people in the community can get their basic needs met, then it just helps everybody thrive. It’s about giving back to the community, I want people to take home just a sense of being amongst or a part of something that’s bigger than all of us,” Ugbebor told CTV.

Glass says fashion can walk hand-in-hand with women’s confidence and empowerment.

“When you walk that runway and put on the clothes, you have a certain kind of confidence, and that kind of confidence I wish I could give to all the women in our community,” she said. “Because it does. It feels amazing and a lot of the time a fashion event brings together women. So, it’s great to be in a room full of women that are either strutting the runway or cheering for people on the runway and giving people confidence.”

Wendy Johnson is one of the models who will be strutting the runway.

“A lot of women have been in these situations, and they are unable to speak up for themselves or have anybody, you know, stand up for them,” Johnson said. “I’m just really glad that this program is taking the initiative to advocate for women who are going through this, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Tickets for the event are $20 and proceeds from sales as well as from the silent auction go directly to Alice House.

For those in the fashion world, these are the moments they can shine and give back to the community.

“I just love sewing. I love making clothes. I love fashion design,” said Ugbebor, who will be selling his designs from this fashion show at Market Price in Halifax on Saturday. “So, I just figured I could express myself better by having people walk around in my ideas.”

“I started modeling for Stokeduds last November, and it was my first runway,” added Johnson. “I was really nervous, but it turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

More than giving to community, Glass hopes people leave with their own sense of empowerment.

“I want them to have fun. I want them to leave energized, confident, and feeling good about themselves and just wanting to have fun.”

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