"On Tuesday September 18, 2007 during the 5pm rush hour we put 30 models & dancers on the streets of downtown Seattle to spread the message, "You Are Beautiful". This event was not announced to the general public."
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THE STORY
If you would have told me that I would be part of a fashion show that featured 30 models walking in downtown Seattle during the 5pm rush hour, I would have never believed you. It's just strange sometimes how things work out and how sometimes you just have to be very lucky. But it didn't start out that way.
I was supposed to do a photo exhibit at Mode, just like I have done in the past. They were also having their annual fundraising event in April so it would have been a good time to get Shoot for Change involved to also help them with their event. We planned it and scheduled it and I started hanging all the photos in the salon. A few days later, I get an email from Chelsea saying that the event is canceled. Of course, I was disappointed.
When I got back to Seattle, the owners of the salon decided to invite me over to meet me and get to know me a little bit. So I met them for drinks at the Red Lion Hotel on 5th Ave. It was cool to meet Joe and Guy, talking about photography and fashion and things like that. During that time, I was actually considering doing a fashion event and was starting to organize it (in my head). Because they were disappointed about their fundraising event, we started talking about other things that the salon could do.
Without hesitation, Guy started discussing what had been in his head for a while. He wanted to do a fashion show in the middle of downtown Seattle. He wanted all the models to just walk out of Mode Organic Salon and do a fashion show in the middle of the street like it was some normal thing to do. He was so excited about the idea and as we were bouncing it around, I started getting into it. I had ideas about helicopters flying in the sky. =) I told him that I would love to be a part of this and if he needed more photographers, I figured I could find them (thank you Myspace). So the rest of the evening, we're bouncing around ideas and getting hyped up. Joe, I think, was a little hesitant at first. But the more Guy talked about it, the more the idea became real.
The next thing is that they wanted to promote a positive message, like save the environment, be healthy, or something like that =). Mode uses organic products in their salon so it totally made sense. At the same time, they didn't really want to just promote themselves. They wanted to promote a positive message. That's when "You are Beautiful" was coined. It was perfect because it was actually their tagline anyway! And we wanted different kinds of people from different backgrounds, different looks, different styles. Age, size, race - we wanted them all.
The final thing was that they wanted to also promote an organization or a cause. This is where it gets interesting. During that part of the conversation, I was a little bit quiet and was actually naming other organizations. One idea was to pass out business cards during the fashion show that had "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" on one side and then the organizers/cause on the other side. This was brilliant, but at this moment, I still wasn't thinking about Shoot for Change. I was, but I wasn't. =)
After a few minutes of discussing other organizations, Chelsea (bless her heart) quietly said, "Why don't we promote Shoot for Change???" Everyone kinda looked at each other with smiles on their faces when Guy turns to me and says, "What do you think?"
I couldn't believe it and to this day, I still can't believe it. Of course I agreed and immediately after that, we all started looking for models and photographers. Again, thank you Myspace. During the next few months, there were some ups and downs and some cancellations that almost forced us to lose our minds. But thankfully, the show wasn't canceled and Mode Organic Salon produced one of the most brilliant and creative fashion ideas to hit Seattle. And I will forever be thankful to everyone who participated, contributed, sacrificed, collaborated, and inspired.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.
--
MODE
1424 4th Ave (4th Flr of 4th & Pike Bldg)
Seattle, WA 98101
206.623.0195
For more info about the show, click here.
--
THE STORY
If you would have told me that I would be part of a fashion show that featured 30 models walking in downtown Seattle during the 5pm rush hour, I would have never believed you. It's just strange sometimes how things work out and how sometimes you just have to be very lucky. But it didn't start out that way.
I was supposed to do a photo exhibit at Mode, just like I have done in the past. They were also having their annual fundraising event in April so it would have been a good time to get Shoot for Change involved to also help them with their event. We planned it and scheduled it and I started hanging all the photos in the salon. A few days later, I get an email from Chelsea saying that the event is canceled. Of course, I was disappointed.
When I got back to Seattle, the owners of the salon decided to invite me over to meet me and get to know me a little bit. So I met them for drinks at the Red Lion Hotel on 5th Ave. It was cool to meet Joe and Guy, talking about photography and fashion and things like that. During that time, I was actually considering doing a fashion event and was starting to organize it (in my head). Because they were disappointed about their fundraising event, we started talking about other things that the salon could do.
Without hesitation, Guy started discussing what had been in his head for a while. He wanted to do a fashion show in the middle of downtown Seattle. He wanted all the models to just walk out of Mode Organic Salon and do a fashion show in the middle of the street like it was some normal thing to do. He was so excited about the idea and as we were bouncing it around, I started getting into it. I had ideas about helicopters flying in the sky. =) I told him that I would love to be a part of this and if he needed more photographers, I figured I could find them (thank you Myspace). So the rest of the evening, we're bouncing around ideas and getting hyped up. Joe, I think, was a little hesitant at first. But the more Guy talked about it, the more the idea became real.
The next thing is that they wanted to promote a positive message, like save the environment, be healthy, or something like that =). Mode uses organic products in their salon so it totally made sense. At the same time, they didn't really want to just promote themselves. They wanted to promote a positive message. That's when "You are Beautiful" was coined. It was perfect because it was actually their tagline anyway! And we wanted different kinds of people from different backgrounds, different looks, different styles. Age, size, race - we wanted them all.
The final thing was that they wanted to also promote an organization or a cause. This is where it gets interesting. During that part of the conversation, I was a little bit quiet and was actually naming other organizations. One idea was to pass out business cards during the fashion show that had "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL" on one side and then the organizers/cause on the other side. This was brilliant, but at this moment, I still wasn't thinking about Shoot for Change. I was, but I wasn't. =)
After a few minutes of discussing other organizations, Chelsea (bless her heart) quietly said, "Why don't we promote Shoot for Change???" Everyone kinda looked at each other with smiles on their faces when Guy turns to me and says, "What do you think?"
I couldn't believe it and to this day, I still can't believe it. Of course I agreed and immediately after that, we all started looking for models and photographers. Again, thank you Myspace. During the next few months, there were some ups and downs and some cancellations that almost forced us to lose our minds. But thankfully, the show wasn't canceled and Mode Organic Salon produced one of the most brilliant and creative fashion ideas to hit Seattle. And I will forever be thankful to everyone who participated, contributed, sacrificed, collaborated, and inspired.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.
--
MODE
1424 4th Ave (4th Flr of 4th & Pike Bldg)
Seattle, WA 98101
206.623.0195
For more info about the show, click here.
