Gisele Bündchen for mayor?
Well, not quite.
The New Brunswick College of Craft and Design will hold their annual fashion show April 21, and Fredericton mayor Brad Woodside will be walking the runway.
“I made a call to a friend who made a call to him, and he was in just like that. He’s right next door so he can come in for his fittings. I’ve got his holster and his badge, so everything’s all ready to go,” said Patricia Galbraith.
Galbraith is in her final year of the two-year fashion design program at the college. Woodside will be sporting a look out of her Wild West-themed line.
The college’s 14th annual fashion show, “Designed to the Nines,” will be held at the Fredericton Convention Centre. There will be eight graduating students and one student in advanced studies presenting designs on the runway.
“I’ve been working on it since January, so about three months of sewing,” Galbraith said. “The design part and trying to figure out what we were going to do was all done before Christmas. In the new year we kind of just jumped right into it.”
Galbraith’s line draws from Gunsmoke, a television series set in a small, western town in the 1870s. Galbraith created fictional characters and designed her pieces around those characters.
Woodside will be playing the role of the town marshal.
The event is open to the general public, and the money raised goes to scholarships for students attending the college. Last year, a scholarship was given out to both a first- and second-year student.
The lines expected from graduating students for this year include lingerie, ballet and evening gowns. Part of the evening will also display work from alumni.
“We really try and tie in alumnus,” said Joanne Venart, an instructor at the college. “We always try and stay in touch with our graduates, so the fashion show is a great opportunity to get together. It’s kind of like homecoming in a way.”
The first-year students will be using unexpected materials. Last year they were required to work with plastic, and this year the students must create a garment using only paper. Anything goes, said Venart, from cardboard to tissue paper.
One design from each designer will be displayed in a downtown shop window a week before the event. Participating locations include Robert Simmonds Clothing and Westminster Books.
“The show gives an opportunity to the general public to see what is going here, and it’s a place for designers to showcase their talents,” said Galbraith. “It’s a fun and entertaining evening.”
Individual tickets for the event are $15 and are on sale at Reid’s Newsstand, the UNB Campus Shop or NBCCD. For more information call 453-5997.
