Athens, Georgia is officially our most fashionable college town this fall. Our rock star team of runway reps at the University of Georgia has ignited RTR on campus with girls renting for everything from game day to winter formal. We interviewed Runway Rep Team Manager, Mary Mitchell to learn more about their initiatives on campus including the philanthropy fashion show that kicked off the semester in style. Below are Mary Mitchell’s tips for planning a fashion show on your campus.
1 Partner With a Great Cause
Team with a student run philanthropy that your campus is passionate about and allow all ticket proceeds to go to that cause. UGA HEROs involves more than 2,000 students and the fashion show raised over $1,000 for the organization.
2 Book a Cool Venue
When traditional on campus locations were already booked for our date, local artist Stan Mullin donated his fabulous art studio barn for the fashion show. We improvised to create a runway using tea lights and borrowed chairs from our sorority houses.
3 Model Casting
We invited one representative from each sorority volunteer to model so that their entire chapters would come out to support them! We also worked with student fashion organizations on campus that have experience in casting models.
4 Styling and Production
We partnered with Boulevard, a local fashion magazine to produce the fashion show and run all back stage production. A local salon also donated stylists to get the models runway ready.
5 Music and Entertainment
The fashion show is a short 15-20 minutes, so we invited a local band to open the night. Their performance was followed by a live DJ that spun for the actual catwalk show.
6 Programs and Swag Bags
We printed programs to highlight all of the designers featured in the show, the models walking, and the organizations that donated their services. We even placed swag bags in the front row, so the first students to arrive would get an extra treat.
7 Celebrity Guests
Surprise guests are a great perk to any fashion show. We invited four football players to escort models down the runway for game day looks.
8 Public Relations
We worked with our student newspaper and many local fashion blogs to promote the event and increase awareness about RTR and our cause.
9 Results
Rentals in Athens have continued to increase each month after the show, so all of our hard work and planning paid off!
