With the help of Coastal Carolina University students and faculty, a local fashion show event will bring sustainable and creative pieces to the shores of Myrtle Beach.
Hosted by New Directions, the largest homeless shelter in Horry and Georgetown County, the Compassion Through Fashion show will take place on Friday from 6-10 p.m. at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
For the past 10 years, New Directions has hosted a fashion show to raise funds and awareness for their cause. This year, tickets are $75 for non-students and $35 for students, with food and refreshments provided with a purchased ticket.
Angela Fabbri, lecturer and director of professional communication at Coastal Carolina University, has been working closely with New Directions as their Marketing Director.
“Homelessness is an issue that has really affected the entire nation. There’s no real solution for it, right?But by providing safe shelter, we offer recovery services, scholarships and outreach,” Fabbri said. “That’s something that is much needed in this area as we’ve seen growth with the homeless population year after year.”
Fabbri said with homelessness increasing, it is crucial that we are prepared to serve those in need of sheltering and other forms of assistance.
“I just know from running my own family how much it costs to live these days. So, ensuring they have an adequate amount of food and supplies,” Fabbri said. “We have babies in the shelter who need formula, diapers, wipes … All this money truly does go to directly impact the clients and their sustainability.”
An important aspect of the fashion show is sustainability. Each dress is made from items that individuals can find around the house.
Nikki Grace Mercedes Grome, a senior communication major, is making a dress for the show called “Your Mixtape.” She described the importance of sustainability by creating a piece entirely out of CDs from the ’70s and ’80s.
“They are all my parents’ old CDs that they had in the basement that they never used or were probably going to get rid of,” Grome said. “Knowing we’re making dresses out of creativity and things we find around the house and things like that, it’s like we’re not even going and spending money on materials that were going to waste in the long run.”
This year, students with the Teal Strategic Program are helping with the outreach and public relations (PR) aspect of the event.
Students from the Teal Strategic class are able to gain valuable experience when working with the New Directions on their fashion show.
Makayla Faletto, a junior public relations major, shared examples of what she has learned participating in the fashion show for two years in a row.
“Hands-on and good experiences doing PR,” Faletto said. “Me and this girl got to piece together this design, which is cool because I want to go into fashion. Like that was hands-on experience for a fashion show. And then also we want to boost ticket sales, and we can produce their ticket sales and that looks great on us for employee hiring later on.”
