Dare to be Different fashion show: A journey of Passion & Innovation
Hi there my
lovelies,
I would
like to share with you an experience dear to my heart, it has got to be one of
my biggest achievements – organising a whole fashion show independently in aid
of breast cancer. As much as it was demanding and full of many challenges – the
more rewarding it had felt on the day.
I loved it
all, from the highs, lows and obstacles - as it demonstrated my true strength,
motivation, tenacious mindset and passion!
It has been
a year today since Dare to be Different fashion show had taken place and I have
written a piece on the overall experience to share with you all – from when it
began, the process and the success of the event.
Happy Birthday to Dare to be
Different fashion show 2014!
Hope you
enjoy this post and become inspired.
Envision it,
work hard – make it happen!
Happy Sunday
oxo
Dare to be Different.
Daring,
glamorous and unique fashion but in a sophisticated sense: the show's signature
style.
Dare to be
Different, a fashion show that I planned, organised and implemented independently
that had taken place a year ago in aid of breast cancer.
I wanted to
capture and project my inspired vision of an elegant, dramatic and
awe-inspiring fashion show that would captivate the audience and leave them
amazed.
There were
two exquisite womenswear collections and one dashing menswear collection. The
collections represented daring, unique and statement fashion that reflected
luxury, class and sophistication.
Garments were in the style of designers',
Vivienne Westwood, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Galliano, Emilio Pucci,
Balmain, Vera Wang.
Womenswear collections were from London's fashion
designer’s Rochelle Melbourne, who launched her high-end clothing line, Forever Devine shortly after the show
and Riny Vaz, an aspiring fashion designer.
The menswear collection was from
Birmingham-based designer, Akshay Vashisht, UK’s youngest Asian designer
designing contemporary, on-trend, luxury pieces for his clothing line AV Couture.
MISSION – (IN A NUTSHELL!)
The show was
inspired by and its main intention was to make a positive difference, promote
diversity through a strong multicultural event and give the audience a
spectacular, stylish show through my love for fashion.
How the show was inspired…
"Understanding
and taking into account that more than 80% of women affected by breast cancer
suffer the trauma of surgery to remove part or all of one or both their
breasts, could leave them feeling vulnerable, unfeminine and have such a
negative effect on their confidence; had inspired me to help them feel sexy,
confident and glamorous again!"
I wanted to
inspire, show and prove that post-surgery women are still beautiful and can
still feel and look fabulous!
I was initially hoping to have specially
designed, custom-made and beautifully tailored garments for women who face or
are already affected by breast cancer. These exquisite creations would have
served their tastes, needs and measurements to help them regain that feeling of
empowerment and looking sensational when strutting and shining on the catwalk
(relishing in the limelight). Every
woman deserves to feel beautiful!
I potentially wanted to raise this awareness
along with support Breast Cancer Care in terms of fundraising; to help towards
their research and sessions in helping cancer patients deal with their
vulnerabilities and the overall unnerving experience.
The event
was intended to be motivational in the sense of promoting diversity and
supporting all the creative professionals involved (whom were from various
backgrounds and experience levels - not only from across the West Midlands but
also wider parts of the UK), with the opportunity to gain experience, develop
their portfolios and be part of an innovative fashion show!
The show
also helped London’s emerging fashion designers showcase their collections and
enhanced my own professional skills and personal development too (one of the
main reasons for planning and executing this fashion event).
The event also aimed to support and provide
entertainment by rising unsigned artists, of which additionally enhanced the
night along with the sweet treats, Estee Lauder demonstrations, raffle draw and
prizes.
HOW IT BEGAN
I strongly
believe beauty and fashion have nothing to do with size, height, race or
personality and (not to sound too cheesy) is something self-expressive that
comes from within. This is something I wanted to highlight, reflect and include
in my show, as everyone is beautiful in their own unique way, that is what
makes them shine...everyone deserves to
feel beautiful!
I have
always loved challenging myself and pursuing any project or endeavour that
involved creativity, innovative thinking and would help strengthen and
diversify my current skillset. So, I combined this with my love for fashion and
wanting to make a difference in people’s lives and began planning a show on the
basis of this. This show was definitely
a journey of challenges, experiences, making connections, inspiration and
heart.
It was a journey of
passion.
Passion of…
bringing together a fusion of cultures, styles and personalities, it was such a
beautiful thing that helped the show sparkle that much more. My love for
fashion, beauty, creativity, art and making a difference by fundraising for a
good cause and helping others was all in
one place.
THE PROCESS
It was all an
explorative journey that unravelled beautifully, that all began with a mini brainstorm of scribbled ideas to stumbling
across an advertisement for an exhibition at the School of Fashion and Design
in London, where Fashion graduates would be showcasing their final designs, I immediately
booked my place onto the guest-list, my train ticket and pursued the event.
It was
lovely browsing through the amazing garments and portfolios on display. I
introduced myself, handed out business cards and networked with the fashion
graduates explaining my intention. The next thing I knew, I had fashion
designers on board.
From this point on, I was glued to my phone and laptop (they were definitely my main,
treasured essentials throughout the whole event process!).
I was
preoccupied with responding to the overflow of emails and arranging interviews
after posting up adverts for models, make-up artists, photographers, graphic
designers, singers and dancers. Immediately after hiring all my personnel, I
communicated my design concepts across to the graphic designers involved – my logo and flyer designs were then in the
making too. I also set up and maintained social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Amidst of
all this, I was dealing with one of the main challenges which was trying to
negotiate and book a suitable venue.
I organised
a professional photo-shoot for
promotional purposes that was about innovation and expressing the Dare to be Different signature style via the make-up
and visual creativity, instantly after I had executed auditions. I gave my
creative direction to the make-up artists and photographers involved, whom I
also communicated my photo-shoot concept to and the purpose for it.
It was a long, manic day but so worth it! When
previewing some of the images I was in
awe. I could not wait to receive them all. It was nice to know everyone had
enjoyed the experience regardless of the demanding day.
I was
overjoyed when my venue was booked, the
date was officially set! This was the moment my event was set in stone. I finalised flyers, décor arrangements
and set up production schedules. A must - I had to incorporate the little touches
from the vintage inspired, tasteful décor and place settings to the pink, black
and silver colour scheme expressing the
Dare to be Different theme.
Jaimal Mistry, a Freelance Creative Director
and Celebrity Choreographer that has worked
with celebrities on various high profile events around the UK, helped
choreograph my fashion show by happily contributing his services too. He is
definitely well-crafted and fantastic at what he does. It was such a pleasure
working with him.
On the day of our first rehearsal, when I had
returned to the room after liaising with the venue manager, oh my god! I saw my
fashion show plan I had spent many months on with such dedication in live
action – I was captivated! It was
simply beautiful.
Whilst
rehearsal days were flying by, I met with the singers and dancers, along with checking
in with the designers to see how they were progressing (FYI - their garment illustrations were amazing!).
In terms of
entertainment, I met with Britain’s Got
Talent's prior contestant, Jordan Curley - a disco and freestyle dancer.
She had gotten through Britain's Got Talent 2 years running. She performed a
beautiful dance routine to Christina
Perri’s I Believe. This was a song we both decided on because it was inspiring and perfect for the show’s style
and theme.
The talented
music artists that I had booked and performed live on the night were Bianca
Gerald from Leeds and Lushea Taylor
from Birmingham. Their performances
were outstanding that kept the audience entertained and the songs performed were
from the genres of Pop, R&B,
Acoustic to Hip-Hop and Soul. Lushea's single, Hip Hop Soul was released
earlier this year.
One of the main highlights of the show process had to be
securing 2 pairs of tickets to go see
John Newman perform live. The tickets were used as the Star-prize for the
raffle draw.
I achieved
this through contacting agencies, companies and approaching stores for a special appearance or prize contributions
and liaising with John's agent.
I still
cannot believe I nearly had supermodel, Gabriela
Riggon-Allen make a special appearance! Due to a prior commitment she
unfortunately could not make it.
It was a
delight seeing my prepared press
releases published by the Birmingham Press and Grapevine Birmingham. My tweets and Facebook posts were
retweeted and shared by followers including companies and professionals. It was
a great experience participating in a radio
interview at Radio Plus Coventry with Lisa Boyle, who I connected with on
LinkedIn. I appreciated sharing my event live
on-air.
By collaborating
effectively with the creative professionals involved and communicating the
show’s creative vision, aim and concepts
and maintaining that consistency; was a significant part to the success of the fashion event.
The aspiring
and professional models and hair and make-up artists I worked with were
very professional, dedicated to their craft and full of personality...qualities I also wanted to bring to the event
process. Some of the featured models were from Birmingham fashion week, runner up from Miss Africa and from the national
beauty pageant.
Make-up
artists involved were from independent
business owners, graduates and working professionals including an award winning international artist,
photographer and make-up artist, Souren Mousavi who was also my lead MUA.
She had recently won the award for the 'Best Vienna Showcase Artist' award.
The host aka Miss Birmingham – Rachael Barker, former Miss B! What a
personality to work with! She was great. The spirit, enthusiasm and the support
was moving. It was an honour having her host my fashion show event and help
making it a success.
“What an honour to have been
asked to host and support Jas for her Dare to be Different fashion show. From
the second I walked in, the professionalism and hard work immediately shone
through, everyone knew their parts to play. It was an incredible event, with
guests dressed to the nines, the most beautiful and gracious models and fashion
wear, as well the wonderful photographers who caught those magic moments. Jas
was an incredible leader and support and had everything planned to the enth
degree, even when things went slight awry she dealt with them with a calm and
collected manner.
The hosting was a wonderful
experience and the audience joined in the enthusiasm of the evening.
On the charity front the team all
worked tirelessly to ensure money was raised through ticket sales,
entertainment, raffles and donations.
I was so proud to say I was a
part of the evening and to have seen such a successful and well-planned event,
bring on 2016!”
–Rachael Barker, Miss Birmingham
It was such
a pleasure and great experience working with such a team of talented, creative
professionals. All my production team were fantastic, they took creative
direction well and did me proud. It was also fulfilling to know that they
enjoyed being part of the show and providing them with material for their
portfolios.
The sound and lighting was provided by Renaissance Entertainment and DJ G-Roy,
who had also kindly contributed their services.
Oh! When
Robin Thicke's Lost Without You song hit the speakers and the models made their
entrance one by one on the catwalk...it
was something magical to watch, ah the song worked perfectly. It definitely
got the audiences all amped up and in
the spirit and got them moving in their seats.
It was
happening!
It was such a vision and feel-good feeling
seeing the show happening live. All those months of hard-work in action, it
gave me butterflies, made me smile, and had me in awe! Witnessing the audience captivated
by the beautiful show - was nothing but undeniably
fulfilling.
OBSTACLES/COMPLICATIONS
I believe if
you want something from life, no matter how difficult it is to achieve –you
should thrive to get it as I believe anything is possible - if you have enough passion, the right
mind-set and that can-do attitude and are willing to work hard for it (even
when you hit those little bumps in the road - you dust yourself off and keep
going strong with an optimistic perspective and positive outlook).
Rather than
focus on the obstacles - it is better to highlight
the complications, then research and explore solutions to solve them.
Planning and implementing a successful, glamorous fashion show independently is
definitely not easy but has proved to be
feasible.
The few
mishaps on the night were smoothened out by thinking on my toes and logically
of how to solve the problems swiftly - rather
than panic.
I would not
give any of it back at all including the challenges
and sleepless nights, even though it was very stressful at times - as all
the experience made the show and that
sense of accomplishment worth it that much more. I loved experiencing all of it, from the going-ons backstage
and managing the whole production.
Some of the key attributes strengthened and learnt from the process of the
fashion show event, were marketing,
public relations, networking and self-management.
It was an overwhelming
but an invaluable experience.
I am very
thankful to all that attended in support of my Dare to be Different fashion
event and all those who contributed their services through their hard work,
dedication and helped make the fashion show event I envisioned a success!
Be inspired!
“When there
is a room full of talented, creative professionals ...you know there is a
masterpiece in the making...Dare to be Different!”
#Passion #SupportAGreatCauseTogether
#EveryWomanDeservesToFeelBeautiful
Twitter:
@DTBDFashionShow
Breast Cancer Care No: 1051965
Bringing the New to Contemporary!
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