Raising Funds for Ovarian Cancer Research with the Fashion Event of the Year
It’s Thursday, October 8th, and Ming Wu, Ottawa photographer extraordinaire, is sitting down at ARC the Hotel with Samantha Moonsammy, of Starfish Creative Events + Inspiration. Samantha is the publicist and Starfish is a proud sponsor of the Fashion CURES à la mode event for Ovarian Cancer Canada, taking place in Ottawa Novemer 4-7, 2009.
According to their research, Ovarian cancer is the most serious of all gynecological cancers. Over 2500 Canadian women are diagnosed every year; and every year 1700 women succumb to this disease. Symptoms are varied, vague and easily missed. There is no screening test to detect it. But when found early – and treated – ovarian cancer survival rate is 90%.
It was a thrill to see all the buzz and excitement for this hip event in formerly small-town Ottawa, and an amazing crowd turned out for this media launch. Samantha invited me see what it’s all about, and I hung around during this interview, which I’ve transcribed below. You can listen to the audio interview and see some event photos on Ming’s great blog!
M = Ming | S = Samantha | A = Amy
M: Can you give us some details about this event?
S: Fashion CURES à la mode is a four day fashion event in this city that is meant to celebrate Canadian designers and bring together the fashion community and those who care about ovarian cancer Canada. It’s taking place November 4-7 at the St. John Evangelist Church at Elgin and Somerset. It’s a really neat venue because we’re building a 50 ft runway in a church and it’s very “old meets new”. Also, not only are there runway shows every night, but there’s a Starfish lounge where you go have a drink, you can see photography exhibits, and there’s a different theme every night.
For example, Wednesday night there’s a live auction with great prizes like designer pieces and Thursday night there’s a stylish taste event with Sixth Sense catering that is putting together an amazing menu so people can mix fashion and food. Friday night we’re having something called a Wardrobe Audit, we’re asking people to bring some old clothes to donate to the church (they have a charity clothing drop off program), as well as attend Canadian designer trunk shows where people can buy designer clothes. I think a lot of people need to know that Canadian designer clothes are affordable, and it’s often just an issue of access. So when you go to fashion cures a la mode, you’re going to be seeing things that are ready to wear, things that we can wear in the city but still feel special and unique
M: How long has Fashion CURES been running – is this the first year?
S: It is the first year and it’s been in the works for almost a year now. The visionary, Rania Abdulla has worked on many fashion projects and has travelled all over the world looking at runway shows. She’s really taken many best practices from a lot of this and put them into this event. She’s also a stylist – and a very good one at that! And I think you’re really going to see her passion and attention to detail in the shows.
M: Would you say this will break the mold of what Ottawa has to offer the fashion world?
S: Absolutely. Look at tonight! Everyone is dressed to the nines - so happy and wearing really stylish clothes. And I think Ottawa has a lot to offer and we have tons of amazing boutiques.
M: Yeah – people tend to think that Ottawa is really conservative and uptight, but there are some people who dress up pretty crazy!
S: I would say that fashion is a form of expression, it’s a part of our identity, and I think that it’s something to be celebrated and I think that an event like Fashion CURES reminds people of that. The things that people are going to see on the runway – I hope that people take pieces of that and look back at their closet and see how they can reinvent what they have and what they might need to inject some more style into their wardrobe.
M: Who are you most excited to see designer-wise?
S: I’m a big pop culture girl and I’m a big fan of Project Runway Canada and we have 3 designers from Project Runway Canada. One is Jason Myers, and he’s doing his runway show in Montreal just before coming here. But I would say tha I am definitely keeping an open mind, even though I might not know the name of a designer yet, I’m still really looking forward to seeing what they have to offer. This is something we need to do - because it’s a great opportunity to support Canadian designers.
A: If you were able to address everyone in Ottawa right now, how would you ask them to help with Fashion CURES?
Ming, Samantha and I at the Media Launch
S: Well, I would say that if you look at your 12 month calendar in the city of Ottawa – when else do you have the chance to go to a 4 day fashion party? I think that this is such an affordable event – it’s a $30 ticket and it’s even less for students. What you’re going to get out of this is amazing – there are countless sponsors – everyone will have a sense of surprise, get special gifts and prizes, we have swag bags to give away – our aim is to spoil you. This is something Starfish loves to do – we love to put that attention to detail into an event and really give you an experience. And Fashion CURES à la mode is definitely a fashion experience.
M: And the awareness for ovarian cancer is really important!
S: Absolutely. And it’s the reason why we have so many amazing sponsors helping out. An event like this costs thousands of dollars just in sound and lighting alone. Because our sponsors are really on board we can give the majority of our ticket sales to Ovarian Cancer Canada. And I think that’s really important – people coming will have fun, but also raise money for a important cause in our community.
A: Is there a particular fundraising goal?
S: That’s a good question. Because it’s our first year doing this, I would really love to see the event sell out. We can have almost 500 people every night in attendance – so why not? This is my call out to the Ottawa crowd to say let’s pack St. John’s church for Fashion CURES à la mode and let’s make a statement. Make it a historical event for much more to come.
M: Where can you buy tickets?
S: You can go online at fashioncuresalamode.com and there are a number of in person locations as well: Second Cup at Rideau and Dalhousie, Murale at Place d’Orleans and Hair Loft in downtown Ottawa.
M: I can’t wait for the event!
Find out more at the Fashion CURES à la mode website, follow them on Twitter, or visit them on Facebook. Hope to see you there.
I saw somewhere that tickets cost from $20 to $105, but nothing on the site itself, or what you get for $20 or $105.
thank you
Thanks for your comment Marguerite! I remember seeing that at some point as well. For those who don’t know, detailed ticket information and online purchasing is available from their site: http://www.fashioncuresalamode.com/tickets.html. General admission day pass is $31.15 and student price is $26.15. Day 4 is a little more because of the activities. You can also buy all access passes or just after party passes, or just make a donation to the cause. Cheers!