Shock Stalks the Catwalk as Fashion Takes Aim at AIDS
Skin was exposed whenever possible. Men modeled sarongs, and women wore little more than boxer shorts.
Unbuttoned shirts revealed washboard stomachs. Mesh tops over push-up bras and crochet bell-bottoms over G-strings left little to the imagination.
Shocking? These wildly sexy fashions were intended to be just that and more. Models strutted the catwalk at a fashion show last Thursday in the Irvine Hyatt’s Pavilion in such scandalous attire to show their defiance to a disease that has put a damper on the sexual revolution. Even the program’s title--”Make Love, Not AIDS--Wear a Condom”--was X-plicit.
More than 500 AIDS activists, fashion slaves and members of the county’s society set shelled out $25 each to see the show, then dance at the rave-style party all with the purpose of helping out the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County (ASFOC). Orange County designers, such as Spot Sport and Stussy and retailers such as Decades in Laguna Beach, donated the clothes, and models from Bella Agency in Irvine worked gratis.
The event was among the latest battles waged by members of the fashion world for the “cause.”
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome has affected everyone everywhere, but no one industry has responded with as much consistent fervor and high profile awareness activities as the fashion industry.
The industry’s response, says Eric Stoltz, spokesman for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), “has been as much the result of its being hit the hardest first.” Designers such as Willie Smith, Perry Ellis and Halston have been among the famous to die from the disease. But photographers, models, stylists, retailers and individuals from every facet of the fashion world have been among the victims.
“We in this industry spend all our time making this world more attractive, but how can we even begin to do this conscionably when we have a disease ravaging our population?” asked Bella President Keith Lewis.
So the industry went to work raising money for research and education, and some of its fund-raisers have glittered in more ways than one.
For instance, the “7th on Sale” events--three-day shopping frenzies held by the Council of Fashion Designers of America where designers such as Donna Karan, Bill Blass and Calvin Klein hawked their wares at reduced prices. The event draws its name from 7th Street in New York City, home to many of top-name labels. The first, held in New York two years ago, raised $4.2 million for AIDS organizations. Last September, a second in San Francisco attracted some 13,000 shoppers and raised about $3 million.
Events such as 7th on Sale, fashion shows and industry balls and products designed specially to raise money benefiting AIDS programs are ways for designers and stores to get some good publicity in the name of a worthy cause. But AIDS activists such as Patrick Jager believe that they also provide a way of “educating the public in a non-threatening environment.” Jager is director of development for the Irvine-based ASFOC, the largest organization of its kind in the county, servicing 70% of AIDS patients here.
“People who don’t directly understand a cause like AIDS need something to gain their attention and their support,” he says. “Yes, it is capitalistic, but it helps.”
Adds Stoltz: “For a lot of these companies, the money just covers their expenses. In no case is the profit margin as high as it would have been otherwise.”
Last Thursday’s event in Irvine took its cue from September’s Jean Paul Gaultier fashion gala in Los Angeles, which netted about $108,000 for AmFAR, complete with glitz and provocative fashions on and off the ramp. Even Madonna made an “appearance” at the Irvine show in the form of an autographed compact disc of “Erotica” and an erotic poster, which was later auctioned along with paintings by local artists suffering from AIDS.
ASFOC is already preparing another fashion show for May--”Art for Life’s Sake” with music, an art auction and a parade of the latest collections from Orange County designers.
With the season of giving upon us, retailers, locally and nationally, have joined the fund-raising, encouraging customers to give two gifts in one. Saks Fifth Avenue sells a red crystal ribbon pin by James Arpad for $95, all profits going to the Design Institute Foundation for AIDS. A Different Drummer in Laguna Beach sells message T-shirts by Romp Wear and Artwear ($15) to help local AIDS organizations.
In what is probably the largest fund-raising effort undertaken by a retailer, Neiman Marcus enlisted 49 accessory designers for its “50 Against One” campaign. “We thought the synergy between Neiman Marcus and these designers would be an ideal opportunity to bring to the public awareness of this terrible disease,” says spokeswoman Billur Wallerich.
Hearts, the word “love” and the looped red ribbon appear throughout the collection, which includes items such as an Accessocraft three-chain belt ($95), an Anne Klein pearl and gold heart locket pin ($40), a Frank Olive black beret with red ribbon band ($45) and a Paloma Picasso heart key chain ($90). Prices range from $205 for Mark Spirto’s gold plate and red garnet heart pin to as low as $10 for Eve Reid’s simple red ribbon pin. Twenty per cent of the proceeds will go to the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
AmFAR will also benefit from products specifically designed for its Gifts that Give campaign. Jewelry designer Stephen Svoboda cast the symbolic looped ribbon in sterling silver ($25) and vermeil ($45) and will donate 40% of proceeds from the pin to the foundation. The items are available at select boutiques nationally.
Artwear features a collection of T-shirts ($20-$24) printed with images by artists and photographers such as Herb Ritts, John Lennon, Laddie John Dill and Keith Haring. All the artists or their estates have donated the use of their work and all related royalties to AmFAR. The shirts, available in coming weeks at Nordstrom, Bullocks and Neiman Marcus, come with the signature red ribbon and a special message on the hang tags.
