Ellington

In honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, ASUW Arts and Entertainment and the Student Health Consortium are hosting A Fashion Show: Everybody, Every Body to promote healthy body image awareness.

The event will be held in February, but model auditions, which began yesterday, will continue through today from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the 3rd floor HUB common area.

Any current UW student, faculty or staff member is invited to model.

“Last year, we had women from size 0 to 26, and men from five-two to six-four,” co-director Lauren Sterling said. “It’s a fun way for people to be confident that’s a little bit different than other events. It’s interactive, with high energy and kind of a party atmosphere.”

Sterling, who is also the director of the Student Health Consortium, is planning the event with UW senior Rachel Hollcraft, as well as six to seven core volunteers and about 10 auxiliary planners.

They encourage all interested to audition, as it is an easy and non-judgmental process in which applicants do a quick walk for the directors to show that they are enthusiastic to model. While there, potential models also fill out a short questionnaire asking why they want to participate and what size of clothing they will need.

“I’m five-two, size 8, so there’s no way I’m going to rock a catwalk in Paris,” said UW sophomore Allison Swienty, who auditioned to model yesterday. “But I think it’d be really cool to be in a fashion show.”

“The media is all about stick-skinny chicks,” said junior Tawnie Baker, another potential model. “The myth is that the look started with fashion shows because they wanted bodies that didn’t detract from the clothing, and mentally that’s carried through to society. But it’s time to change. Not everyone looks like a human clothes hanger.”

Baker was inspired to try out after attending A Fashion Show last year.

“When I saw everyone coming down the runway, it just looked like they were having so much fun,” Baker said.

“The best thing was seeing how confident people were — it was all over their faces,” Hollcraft said, referring to last year’s event. “One girl actually brought me to tears because she was so nervous to get up there, but she did and she looked so great. It’s like ‘See, you are beautiful!’”

The fashion show is part of a larger effort to promote a healthy body image in February. Student groups such as the Student Health Consortium and the Club for Eating Disorder Awareness will be striving to educate people about body-related issues. There will be a week devoted to nutritional health, physical health, sexual/relationship health and mental health.

Last year, more than 400 people and 90 models attended A Fashion Show. It was later awarded Best Intra-ASUW Collaboration of the Year for 2008.

This year, the show’s planners hope to improve the show by moving it to a larger venue and adding attractions such as the UW dance team and possibly a keynote speaker.

As of now, the show is scheduled to feature several different clothing lines, including the student-run brand the People’s Republic of Clothing, the women’s exercise brand Lucy, and a number of student designers, including James Fung, Lauren Bond and Haneen. Before the show, models will be matched with clothing according to the sizes they have specified.

As “A Fashion Show” gains popularity, it also has gained publicity. Sterling was recently contacted by the internationally marketed brand “Little in the Middle,” a company that also promotes positive body image and is planning an event similar to A Fashion Show that will feature a plus-size model from the TV show America’s Next Top Model.

For more information on A Fashion Show, direct e-mails to uwfashionshow@gmail.com, or visit fashionshow.asuw.org/.

Reach reporter Annie Atherton at news@dailyuw.com.