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A Little Bit of Imagination
[Tanisha Palvia]
With all the effort and hours of hard work so many people put into the fashion show held during the Festival Della Creativita on Saturday December 2nd, it is no wonder that the room was so full of people that it was almost impossible to move. Friends, family, and supporters lined the walls and spread out on the floor in the Sala della Volta during the festival at Fortezza Da Basso in hopes to catch a glimpse of the amazing array of second hand outfits stylishly recycled by the fashion students at Lorenzo de Medici. These students applied skills learned in fashion classes to gently used clothing items collected by Mani Tese. By using everything from embroidery to draping techniques over the past two months, not only did many people go home with new purchases, their creations were successful in raising a considerable sum of money to aid homeless children in Guatemala. As people began filing into their seats and awaiting the show to begin, a touching slideshow graced the center screen and helped the audience become aware of the goal of the show. It displayed numerous pictures which adequately showed the unfortunate poverty that defines a significant portion of the lives of the homeless children in Guatemala, the children whom would greatly benefit from the success of the show in more ways than one. Precisely at 3pm, the lights dimmed and the action began with the entertaining and dynamic Andrea Di Vincenzo as master of ceremonies. Lively music accompanied the various models along the runway, with melodies ranging from American to Spanish beats. Children’s fashions were the first to grace the catwalk; adorable young girls modeled everything from daily wear to evening items with denim being the most popular fabric of choice. The young men focused on sportswear and thereby sported athletic shirts with baseball caps. A mother daughter pair dawning matching black dresses were a crowd favorite, as the mother seductively shed her jacket and threw it to her husband from the catwalk! Although following that act up may have seemed hard, the junior fashions held their own as beautiful young women modeled everything from vests and business suits to tube dresses and heavily decorated denim jeans. The organization tied the various outfits together well, for each group of models were designated a certain theme. From the traveling women to the sporty girls and the internationally influenced to the Florentine supporters, all the models fit very well with their designated roles. The fashions that seemed to be the most popular among all of the trendy re-done items were belts, boots, and baring skin. With these daring yet still classy fashions, less was definitely more and the cheers of the crowd showed a unanimous approval. Most intriguing and popular were oversized men button up t-shirts that were turned into sexy, form flattering low cut dresses with a belt around the waist level and calf high boots with leggings to transform the once manly and shapeless t-shirt into a hip hugging feminine alternative. The LDM fashion students were successful at putting together prints and patterns not normally put together to make amazing and fun creations. Also popular was the presence of Margherita Rulli and Carlotta Giannoni as models; both are a part of the staff at Lorenzo de Medici and gained much applause and cheers as they walked the catwalk. The hit of the show, however, had to be the exquisite bridal gown modeled by Sophie Dalevic; live piano played by the MC accompanied her down the walkway.
Immediately after the show, the modeled outfits were sold by direct sales and auctions to raise money for the original cause. Over 500 euro was raised by recycling used items into gorgeous fashions to help those more unfortunate children in Guatemala. The sponsorship of Mani Tese, the Fondazione Culturale di Responsabilita Etica, and Associazione Pantagruel along with the creativity and imagination of La Scuola Lorenzo de Medici and the support of all those who purchased the clothing items at the show has helped to provide a little more sunshine in the lives of countless children. It may be that this fashion show single handedly helped to reinforce an old cliché, for it seems that a little imagination does go a long way.
If you are interested in purchasing the remaining creations to help benefit the homeless children in Guatemala, please do not hesitate to contact Irene from Manitese Firenze at 055/720128.
photo by:
Alicia Granda
Javier Ramos
John Bildstein
Karin Asklund
Michael Prater
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