Students strut to raise money for Operation Smile

Strutting has never been as benevolent as at the Strut for Smiles fashion show Monday at Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union.

“I have never heard of a fashion show that was produced here at IU to raise money for a cause like this,” IU sophomore and Operation Smile member Lacey Myer said.

The show was the idea of freshmen Amy Chen and Samantha Loeffler five months ago. However, neither one would have predicted what the night would become. Raising $1,050 in ticket sales, not including a number of donations, Loeffler said she and Chen are glad people came to not only support the show and the cause but the hard work of everyone involved.

Show attendee Dianna Walker wrote a $100 check at the production’s conclusion and said she did it because she is a mother who loves children’s smiles.

The event raised enough through ticket sales alone to give five children who suffer from facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate surgery for a healthy smile. 

“I think it’s a very good cause to raise money for because it’s not common,” freshman attendee Priscilla de Castro Massey said.

Massey said she first heard about the event through her friend Israel Rodriguez, who was one of 26 models for the evening. However, Massey said she also had a deeper tie.

“I find the support of this cause pretty interesting because I actually knew someone with cleft lip,” Massey said. “More children have it than people recognize, and it’s great that someone is doing something about it.”

After the first part of the show themed “The Corners of New York: From Brooklyn to the Hamptons,” Loeffler and Chen came onstage and said one of the reasons they did the show was because they could not imagine a child without a smile. They followed with the introduction of the evening’s speaker, Dr. Scott Walker. While his slide show about his personal foreign experience with Operation Smile brought tears to some, he ended by saying it was time for everyone to be proud of the event and the difference it was making.

“Everyone has worked so hard on this show, and I think it is a great thing,” Myer said.
After the heartfelt moment, things picked up as Hip Hop Connxion took the stage with its upbeat choreography, helping Chen and Loeffler welcome a taste of Brooklyn to the production.

“The music was so good,” Massey said. “I was dancing in my seat the whole time.”

JMUSE would only continue the energy with a passion-felt introduction, skat, skit and intense step choreography that echoed through Alumni Hall.

“The hip-hop group and JMUSE were spectacular,” said freshman Oscar Rivas, who came to support the show as a member of Phi Alpha Delta. “They were a perfect transition set from Hampton’s high class to a very ’80s-style Harlem look.”

The intermission was met with applause, including hoots and hollers, but was soon silenced by loud music with a more edgy feel than the production’s first half. What had been Lacoste and Ralph Lauren moments before was replaced with labels such as American Rag and Free People, provided by Macy’s and local Bloomington boutiques. 

“The models did an amazing job strutting down the runway,” Massey said. “The clothing selection was really fashionable.”

The evening concluded with a thank you from Chen and Loeffler to Midwest Fashion Week’s creator and designer Berny Martin and campus organization Compass Fellowship, along with a long list of numerous supporters.

Loeffler and Chen left their audience with one line: “I hope you enjoyed your taste of New York tonight.”