By Katie Webb, Assisstant Entertainment Editor
Fashion, fundraising, and friendly for the environment, Destination Runway capitalized on everything there is to love about the clothing industry. On Saturday night, November 12th, Hofstra USA hosted the 5th Anniversary of Destination Runway: Nothing Gold can Stay.
The event, presented by the Student Government Association, took on the theme of environmental sustainability this year. Every part of the event was as environmentally friendly as possible, from the donated green clothing for the runway to the runway stage itself.
Outlined with water bottles, the catwalk was built generously by the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Newspapers created a thinly veiled partition and boarder for the catwalk, which lit up brilliantly as the spot lights changed colors. The words Destination Runway hung on the partitions in bright gold glittery cursive letters with a golden tree in the center.
Sam Erickson, Event Coordinator, said “We chose the theme because it was something near and dear to all of our hearts, and we haven’t been as sustainable in the past so we wanted to change that this year.”
In the past four years the event has raised over $10,000. With ten dollars per ticket and the massive amounts of water bottles donated, the Executive Board members set a goal to raise $5,000 for the night. A fifth of the proceeds will go to Friends of the Earth, which is a charity that strives to address the economic and developmental side of sustainability. The rest of the money will be donated to Friends of Hempstead Plains, which is a non-profit organization working to preserve the ecological habitat of the Hempstead Plains.
As the show began guests lined up outside the back doors eager to enter. Everyone from volunteer ticket rippers to light and music operators to nervous models and E-Board members ran around up until the last second making sure the show went off flawlessly.
As the lights dimmed and the music pumping into the room grew louder creating a frenzied vibe of excitement, the show finally began. The opener for the event was an insanely skilled performance by the dance group Strictly Steppin.
Then the show opened with the urban set of clothing. If the quality of the clothing was measured by the energy of the audience, then this line was the best. With a lot of clothing from the ROAM company and other street savvy prints thrown in this line killed. The models stomped out in stilettos and leather boots with attitude to spare. They rocked ripped denim jeans, cheetah print shirts, a black body suit, and ROAM label sweat shirts.
Next, Makin’ Treble performance a mash-up of “F*#k You” and “Rehab.” The formal section was next, with the exception of a few ill fitting garments and ill designed pieces, the runway was taken over by stunning gowns and dapper suits. The female models were stunning in dresses such as a one shoulder, flowing, black, satin gown to a short, sexy, red, party frock.
Derycka Shirley, model, commented after the show about being a model that, “A lot of hard work, free time, and dedication were put into this, but everyone is friendly and the experience is extremely fun which makes it all worth it.” The models worked every week practicing tirelessly for the show.
The male models were the true highlight. While the women rocked the stage in their powerful walks and confident looks, the men were beyond charming. Many of the male models crafted hilarious high-end fashion poses. One model combed his hands through his hair, another shoot a blue steel stare into the audience for a solid minute just standing there smiling goofily, and another pulled a serious face before waving excitedly at someone in the audience adorably muttering, “hi mom!”.
Sigma Cappella then performed leading into the presentation of the student made outfits of 100% sustainable material. The four looks were intricate pieces ranging from a dress of garbage bags and caution tape to a tutu of newspaper and duct tape.
The next line of clothing was donated by Stewart + Brown, an eco friendly line of clothing, which featured flower print frocks, light blue and burgundy jumpers, earth tone jackets, and tribal print tops.
Hannah Skahill, Apparel Procurer, said “sending out all the e-mails and trying to find places to donate clothing was a long process, but sustainability is something I’m passionate about.” Skahill got clothing from New York Vintage, ModCloth and Ted Baker along with the previously mentioned companies.
Imani Dance Ensemble was the last guest group, and the ladies made the crowd scream with pleasure at their performance. After the models took their final turn on the runway, and the E-Board thanked everyone involved, the night came to a close.
Perhaps the most tirelessly dedicated worker of them all, Liz Weeden, E-Board member and head of the event said, “it takes months, we started in April putting everything together and developing the going green theme,” and the hard work of everyone involved was well worth it for the benefit of the worthy cause.
