HSBC Charity fashion show

HSBC Charity Fashion Show

Young graduate

Young graduate bankers stage fashion show to raise money for Fairbridge, with a little help from the high street.

By Olivia Bergin
Published: 4:48PM BST 13 Aug 2009

It’s a hazy time in fashion at the moment. While the world of high fashion lies dormant, the high street is preparing to make that tricky transition from bikinis to autumnal wares.

This period of serenity is the calm before the fashion-month storm, which kicks off with shows in New York in September. But somewhere over in the deep commercial depths of Canary Wharf last night, a fashion rendezvous was going full swing at the top of the HSBC tower.

Those bright young things lucky enough to have secured themselves a place on the bank’s prestigious graduate training scheme had pooled their time and resources to stage an impressive charity fashion show in aid of Fairbridge, a charity which helps deprived children across the country.

The bank’s huge boardroom was transformed from conference space to catwalk, as models (all of whom, in fact, have day jobs with HSBC) paraded up and down the runway in the name of charity.

A notable list of brands lent their support to the event – the catwalk show kicked off with the ubiquitous House of Holland (designer Henry Holland’s infamous slogan T-shirts are adored by the fashion pack. Think: “I’ll show you who’s boss Kate Moss”); a collection of dresses and jeans from Cheap Monday; and high street favourites L.K Bennett and Orla Kiely.

The remarkable £15,000 raised during the evening was generated through ticket sales, and raffle and charity auction. The money will go to Fairbridge, who support 13-25 year-old inner city youths with education and confidence-building, through a range of diverse activities such as windsailing to cooking. The charity’s CEO, Andrew Pervis, used to be the chief executive of organic beauty company Neal’s Yard before dedicating his time to helping underprivileged youngsters.

A highlight of the evening occurred when ‘Mrs. Ab-Fab’, fashion PR guru Lynne Franks, took to the stage. She wasn’t strutting her stuff on the catwalk, but provided an inspiring insight into her work over the past 25 years in the fashion industry, regaling the assembled bankers on how she instigated London Fashion Week by putting up tents around London in which designers could stage their shows.

I found this interesting how even HSBC Bank has put on a charity fashion show. It could also help us with our ideas of how to put on the event and raise money.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/6023137/HSBC-Charity-fashion-show.html

Posted By: Lottie