By Amie Slater
On Tuesday of week two, Lancaster’s most stylish turned up at Sugarhouse for The Reign of Fashion. Hosted by Lancaster University Fashion Society (LUFS) and Lancaster University Society for the International Partnership of Business Schools (LUSIPBS) it was a night of fashion, dancing, and cat-walking. LUSIPBS got in contact with co- presidents of the fashion society: Sophia Miles and Laura Lane, and asked for their help to raise money for the charity Viva Con Agua. The organisation based in St. Pauli/ Hamburg campaign for clean drinking water worldwide, building wells and constructing systems for drinking water in villages across continents.
The night was nearly cancelled due to lack of ticket sales, but eighty tickets ended up being sold, which at £4 each got you entry to sugarhouse, a showcase of Lancaster student designs and a cheeky free glass of champagne! This combination of fashion and charity gave people a chance to see the fashion society putting their best (very fashionable) foot forward in their own designs while raising money for a really worthwhile cause.
The themes of the clothes for the first walk were ‘Vintage’ and ‘Military’. For ‘Vintage’ there were lots of soft edges from silk, faux fur, and sheer material with a hint of pearls. For ‘Military’ the models mixed it up with tough boots, shirts and military style jackets worn with light scarves and floaty skirts.
Then there was a chance for the girls to get changed while LUDanS did a perfectly executed dance to Cheryl Cole’s ‘Fight For This Love.’
When the models came out this time they were sporting clothes reflecting ‘Spring’ and ‘Water’ letting translucent, (and sometimes transparent) blues and greens mix together, the Water themed bodices were made by backstage helper, Jenny Cuddy. There was also a pair of skin tight silver leggings and a long, deep blue, crushed velvet dress to be impressed by here!
Another quick dance by LUDans before the final walk of the night which featured clothes made by Sophia, and two other fashion society members; Kimberley Ward & Natasha Tyson. The theme of the clothes was ‘Recycling’, so the outfits featured skirts and dresses made of bin bags, magazines and newspapers, some tin foil shoulder pads, and the odd ‘easy tiger’ and ‘I got Shagg-ed at the weekend’ t-shirt. Kat Haylock, one of the models said that “the final ‘Recycled’ theme walk was definitely the most terrifying, we’d only had about three minutes to be sellotaped into them before we had to go out. Once I was on the stage I was too busy praying for the holding power of sellotape!”
Considering the fashion society didn’t receive funding from anyone, they managed to host a great night! The 12 models, who ranged from fashion society members, members of LUSIPBS, friends and those who auditioned, all had their hair professionally styled by local hairstylist Matthew Paul. He did a wonderful job of all the girls’ hair cutting, dying and styling it all for free with the help of his staff. Matthew was presented with an orchid on the night as a thank-you for all his hard work. The hairstyles were pretty demanding, a lot of hours, hairspray, grips and patience went into the towers of tresses and they all looked amazing. Thanks also went to the Sugarhouse manager Louise Davies who was given a bottle of bubbly as a thank-you present. Add to this the help of DJ Simba playing the tunes, the night was a success and raised money for a really worthwhile cause. Sophia said, “everyone we spoke to enjoyed themselves, so that’s the main thing. Of course everyone involved had an amazing time on the night. Everyone was very dedicated and supportive which was great”.
