Sisters of charity

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Fashion shows have become synonymous with eating disorders, bitchy designers and pretentious parties. Such clichés overshadow not only the hard work, creative input and genuine passion put into such shows but also ignore the altruistic possibilities of the catwalk spectacle. Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show has succeeded in fusing a superficial love for the beautiful and the superfluous with a commitment to raising funds for some of the most worthwhile charities around.

In its fifth consecutive year, the show has already raised over £150,000 for various charities including Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, Students Supporting Street Kids and Macmillan Cancer Support. This year saw the show returning to support Macmillan and Project Scotland, demonstrating a commitment to local Edinburgh charities. ECFS is now the biggest student fashion show in Europe and will only get bigger.

With the show’s costs being covered by ticket sales and sponsorship from Artemis, the real cash is made in the impressive auction. Past prizes have included Sting’s guitar and a bedtime story read by Oscar winner Tilda Swinton. This year both the Kooks and James Blunt donated signed guitars and other prizes included a weekend for two at Jeremy Irons's cottage, and Wembley tickets to see England play Switzerland.

Together with a strong committee, this year’s chairman Eliza Ellerby put on a show which surpassed last year’s offering. With clothes from Basso & Brooke, Luella, 21st century kilts and Juliet Dunn, the standard was as high as ever thanks to fashion coordinators Robyn Walters and Tom Campbell. Having put the best part of 12 months into the preparation, Eliza and her team decided to focus on a more playful theme for the show this year: the Garden of Eden.

Capitalising on the connotations of scantily clad pre-lapsarian nymphs, the show stretched the motif to its sexual potential. A calendar had already been produced which displayed the shadows of naked figures hunched by a fire; a tasteful bit of mudwrestling on Arthur’s Seat; a debauched woods-at-night banquet and a mass of lithe bodies entwined in the branches of a tree.

But the full realisation of the Garden of Eden theme came through in the opening moments of the show. As the first model, the delectable Ferderica Amati, made her first steps down the catwalk in a revealing cut-out knitted swimsuit, the crowd’s attention was directed to the live python draped round her neck. Reminiscent of a classy version of Britney Spear’s infamous Slave for You stageshow, Federica looked remarkably comfortable with her new found friend. Not only did the show itself impress the crowd, but it also managed to impress Select model agency, who signed up a couple of the hotties.

As a performer in the show, I was lucky enough to be privvy to the goings on behind the scenes. Backstage, the models certainly fused the hard work with lashings of debauchery. With a co-ed changing room, the male models got used to the 15 girls dashing around in nude thongs remarkably quickly. Whether that be a sign of professionalism or just a case of having seen too much too young, shyness flew out of the window when it came to quick changes. The atmosphere backstage was truly remarkable and the adrenalin extreme.

Having been assigned personal dressers, dress rails, make-up artists fluttering round to do touch ups, and people applying last minute moisturizer to body parts, it's easy to convince yourself that you might just as well be backstage at London Fashion week. That is of course before the lary student crowds and the post-party misbehaviour serve as an instant reminder that you are, in fact, a bunch of students raising money for charity in the most exciting, ego-boosting, soon-to-be drunken way possible.

However, fun aside, people often fail to see the work put in by everyone in the lead up to the show. Four hours of rehearsals a week for months preceding it and a string of fundraisers and socials means that by the time of the show, the committee and models are closer than ever and all feel part of something really important. Sure, you may ask, how hard is it to walk? Well, I retort, in those skyscraper heels, harder than it looks. For those sceptics who brush aside the show as an indulgence, a waste of time or a waste of money, I advise you to just give it a try. You might enjoy it.

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