Visions' fashion week promotes charity, individuality

Monday's designer denim sale raised money for breast cancer research.

By Taylor Combs

Published Nov. 3, 2009

Socially conscious fashion club Visions is hosting its first-ever fashion week, a series of charitable and social events with a stylish twist.

The events began Monday with a designer denim sale in the Johnston residence hall lobby. Organized in part with Johnston residence hall council, the denim was provided by Charity Denim.

Proceeds from the sale of brand name jeans, such as Rock and Republic and Hudson, will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Visions co-founder Sydnea Redwine said the group hopes to raise about $1,000.

Charity Denim, an organization based out of Salt Lake City, buys the denim, usually from last season, directly from designers, event representative Alyssa Lewis said. The jeans are sold for $45 to $95 — more than half off the original retail price, she said. The amount of money the group earns depends on the number of pairs sold.

Visions decided to donate the money to coincide with breast cancer awareness month in October, Visions co-founder and event coordinator Oghosa Iyamu said.

"We chose a charitable organization we were most familiar with," Iyamu said.

Junior Alex Holley bought a pair of jeans at the event after trying on a few in the pop-up tent dressing rooms. She said she wanted to take advantage of the event since in Columbia there are not many places to buy designer denim. She heard about it through a Facebook event.

"I really like designer denim," Holley said. "It's an opportunity to get good quality jeans at a great price."

Tuesday's event is a closed service project in which Visions will team up with Dream Outside the Box, another student-run organization, to work with underprivileged students at the Boys and Girls Club of America. Redwine said the goal of the event, which will feature scarf decorating and games, is to teach children how they can show their personality through fashion.

"These children are low income and we want to show them that it is not just about buying expensive clothes," Redwine said.

The vintage Visions clothing drive will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. Clothing donations will be made to The Wardrobe.

The largest event of the week will be Thursday's dare-to-design panel featuring designers from a fashion show Visions hosted last year. The designers will answer questions on how they got started in the fashion industry and at a reception following the discussion the designers will be available to show off their look books and take custom orders. The event will be at 7 p.m. in South residence hall room 207.

Friday has been dubbed Visions appreciation day. The goal is to show how students express their individuality through style.

"We will have Visions members roaming around campus looking for one fashionable male and one female," Redwine said. "The two selected will be featured in our online magazine and get a secret prize."

The philanthropic nature of the fashion events support the main focus of Visions, which is to offer a different perspective on what community involvement can be, Redwine said. The organization offers students interested in fashion and the visual arts an opportunity to express themselves in a way their academic major might not allow.

"Even though that's not their major you still get to play and make a difference," Redwine said.