Hosting a Fashion Show

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know about my exciting day on Thursday, but if not, let me recap...

Almost a year ago, I was contacted by Deloitte to style and host a fashion show they were hoping to hold for the women of their company, a team building-dress-for-success of sorts (really cool, I know).  We talked and talked about ideas and it finally came to fruition last week.

We finalized the date of the show three weeks beforehand which means the last three weeks have been busy.  I was hired to style the seven employees who volunteered to model in the show.  As the company decided to hold the show at Place d'Orleans, a mall that I'm affiliated with, I was in charge of contacting the stores and encouraging participation.  Once I had various stores on board, I spent a full evening pulling and styling 17 outfits for the women of all shapes and sizes (and ages).

From there, I met with the models in groups of two or three to have them try their pulled outfits; some worked, some didn't, and we kept trying options until we found their perfect outfits.  

Thursday was the big day!

I got up early, did full hair and make-up, and packed up my hosting outfit.

Garage cardigan (similar; less expensive) // Dynamite tank (similar) // Chiqle denim

I headed to the mall and spent several hours going to each store and collecting the outfits I had set aside.  Then brought everything to the stage area to get organized in the private tent behind.

F21 Boots

I sorted the outfits by model in order of appearance (all models had two outfits but three had three outfits).  I organized the shoes underneath in the same order from top down.

As the stage area was being set up and we were waiting on the models to arrive, I grabbed a quick bite to eat for dinner from the food court.

The make-up artists arrived and got started on the ladies as they began to trickle in.  The look was neutrals and office-appropriate with a pop of colour on the lips for Spring.

Joe Fresh top // Forever 21 cami // Lulu's skirt // Enzo Angiolini heels

Once the ladies were in their first outfits and make-up was done, we did a quick dry-run of the show to ensure everything was comfortable and that things would run smoothly.

Then it was showtime!

The ladies killed it and strutted their stuff with confidence.  I had organized the music beforehand with the DJ and he really turned it out.  

I chose tracks that were upbeat but also recognizable that kept the audience's attention like, Beyonce's 7/11, Rihanna's Please Don't Stop the Music and David Guetta's Play Hard.

We had a quick Q&A after the show and then it was mingling, finger foods and some shopping.  A great success and I think a good time for everyone.

Thanks so much for reading!