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Photo by Paisley Spence[/caption]

On the evening of Thursday, October 15, Peterborough’s Artspace on Aylmer St. held the first runway event of the academic year for Trent Fashion Show. The intimate audience of 25 picked up goodie bags as local musician James Higgins played an acoustic performance on the runway.

The show opened with an artistic dance piece about homelessness by local artist Wes Ryan. The theme is appropriate, as the annual goal of Trent Fashion Show is to raise money for the YES Shelter for Youth and Families on Brock St. In her introduction, director Reba Harrison mentioned that the shelter is an important issue to her and the Trent Fashion Show ‘family’.

The awareness of social issues did not stop there. Trent Student Sarah Jennings recently lost her boyfriend Jake Stanley. Stanley was a talented young boxer and to highlight the upcoming ameuter boxing event, Jennings walked the runway in a shirt designed to Stanley’s passing. Model manager Melissa Salvadori held Jennings’ hand down the runway as a sign of support.

The boxing event will be taking place November 7 at The Venue. Tickets are $20 in advance at 705-876-0008 with all proceeds benefiting Team55, a suicide prevention group.

The first collection on the runway presented cozy, neutral pieces that carried with them a sense of thriftiness. ‘Knit Pick’ is the collection of director Harrison, also the owner and designer of NoRegretsFashion.com. The collection was the work of reorganizing the fabrics of knit clothing from the Free Market of Sadleir House’s basement.

Harrison explains that the purpose of the collection was to remind the audience about the importance of recycling material. Model Said Jiddawy assisted her in sewing as Harrison was occupied with event planning. It is common, said Harrison, for the members of the Trent Fashion Show to have many talents and create great connections.

Second designer to debut on the evening’s runway was Peterborough local Kathryn Bahun. Bahun’s store Blackbird Pie was featuring its latest collection of fun autumn and winter wear for the

season.

“Blackbird Pie is clothing for your urban fairytale. With a nod to vintage styling, pieces are playful yet bold, innocent yet badass,” Harrison read on the runway. She added the store address as Slice of Blackbird Pie on Etsy.com.

The runway became the scene of a vogue cottage getaway with the sight of Bahun’s capes, skirts, and dresses. The greys, blues, and reds reminded the audience of the brisk wind and beautiful colours that would be seen again come sunrise.

Last on the runway was the two-part collection of Toronto fashion designer and interior designer Keren Milman. She is also the founder of Simply White Life Design Group in Toronto and is an artistic painter. Flowing dresses, bright colours, soft fabrics, and oversized necklaces took to the runway, pulling the audience back into the memories of summer past.

The free size designs flattered all body sizes of the event, and the happy colours were an ideal transition into a final model walkout. Harrison reminded the audience that the models of Trent Fashion Show are students as they take turns posing one last time for the camera – sometime in a goofy manner!

Having raised $245 during the single intimate show, Harrison thanked her team members Megan McIlvenna, Morgan Smith, Charlotte Hannah, and Melissa Salvadori. The models immediately began to help clean up as they mingled with the audience by the refreshment table.Their next show is a 19+ runway event at Sapphire Room on January 21.