CREDIT: PAIGE LA RUE
Meagan Rivard (left) models former Fashion Design student Megan Russel's design at the Unbound show in Toronto during the Parapan Am Games in August.

While TO2015 had all of Canada talking and London boasting of Damian Warner’s success at the Games this summer, someone at Fanshawe College was busy organizing the Unbound fashion show – again.

The graduating fashion show is an annual event put on by the Fashion Design program at Fanshawe College and it usually wraps up the year for co-ordinator Leigh- Ann Waller. But after the April 11 show, she had another task fall on her plate.

Waller was asked to put on the fashion show again, only this time as the cultural programming for the Parapan Am Games in Toronto.

“I was confused because I thought, ‘Gosh, George Brown is literally a stone’s throw away from where all the action was,’” Waller said. “They didn’t say why they were asking us, but … it’s because all the organization had to be done over the summer and most full-time faculty [members] are on holiday.”

Because Fanshawe is focusing on tapping into the Toronto market, Waller and her team thought putting on the fashion show again was not an opportunity to pass up.

“I thought we need to do it and we need to do it bigger than our fashion students and we need to involve some other areas as well,” she said.

Waller decided to involve students from other disciplines, ranging from Fashion Design to Photography to Music Industry Arts to Broadcast Journalism. She wanted to showcase what Fanshawe has to offer.

She took close to 50 volunteers to Toronto for the August 16 show.

Third-year Fashion Design student Louise Marchand has been working for Fashion Fits this summer and had a hand in planning. Because Unbound is usually held at Museum London, planning the show for a new space was a bit disconcerting.

“It was really interesting,” Marchand said. “For the weeks leading up to it we were a little bit concerned because it was a different space than what we’ve used before.”

Waller echoed the sentiment.

“[For] our Unbound show … we know what the sound system is like,” she said. “We know how the stage is going to go, we know all of that; we know the glitches that are going to happen and plan for them.”

“I went to visit the venue … once.”

A small hiccup resulted in a late start to the dress rehearsal, but in the end, it all worked out.

“The viewers were loving it,” said Photography student Paige La Rue, who was one of the group’s photographers. “You could definitely see them pointing towards certain dresses that they liked more and they were very engaged.”

Waller’s goal of getting Fanshawe into the Toronto market was more than likely reached.

“[The audience] knew that this isn’t just a fashion show, I wanted people to know this is Fanshawe College,” she said.

As for the students, there was much to gain.

“You have to get something out of that,” La Rue said. “Somebody somewhere had to have seen something they really, really like.”

Waller hopes this opens more doors for the future – for everybody.

“The more we can have a presence in Toronto and let people know what we do is great exposure for the college, for our program and for our graduates.”