A poster for the Eco-Fashion Gala. Photo: Courtesy Eco-Friendly Gala.
Putting on an event can be tough, especially when it is a schoolwide Eco-Fashion Gala.
Jeffery Peavy, a senior theater arts major at Ole Miss, is heading up the annual Eco-Fashion Gala as creative director this year. With weeks of planning behind him and more ahead, Peavy and his team are hard at work to make sure the Eco-Fashion Gala April 23 is a success.
“There are so many elements to the show this year,” Peavy said. “We definitely want it to be not just a fashion show; we want to spread sustainability holistically.”
The Eco-Fashion Gala will feature student artists, designers and models along with a musical performance and a trunk show from shops on the Square. Peavy said the designers have already been working on their designs, each designing around one to three different looks. The clothing will be made from recycled or reused items shown in two parts of the show: style and eco-fashion.
The gala will see some new additions this year. From a green carpet walk to an art exhibition, there will be something for everyone.
“Some of the new and innovative things we’re doing is that we’re having a pre-show green carpet walk, letting the attendees that come to the show experience a parody of the red carpet,” Peavy said.
The marketing and public relations team have been hard at work, trying to promote the gala and make the event less “foreign,” as Peavy said.
Davis Bell, a sophomore marketing major on the marketing and public relations team, along with five others, has been using social media to help raise awareness of the event.
“The Eco-Fashion Gala has heavily relied on Facebook,” Bell said. “We have also advertised on Instagram using hashtags such as #UMEcoFashionGala or #UMGreenWeek2014.”
Without the public relations team, the university would “be in the dark about almost everything,” Bell said.
The team has branded the Eco-Fashion Gala and made T-shirts available for purchase at the event.
Ann Marie Lyons, a junior marketing major at Ole Miss, said she was unaware of the Eco-Fashion Gala, but now that she knows more about it, she is “really likely to attend and see what it has to offer.”
Refreshments will be served at the gala, encouraging those in attendance to consider incorporating vegetarian or vegan food choices into their daily lives. The message of spreading sustainability into all aspects of life will be encouraged. Everything from fashion to food can have sustainable options.
“I feel like you do not need to change your everyday life to practice eating styles,” Peavy said. “And it is not just eating styles — we are also trying to show people that it could also be the way you dress.”
In order to draw a diverse crowd to the event, the Eco-Fashion Gala team is hoping for Ole Miss personalities to attend and maybe even head football coach Hugh Freeze. From the Ole Miss baseball team to the basketball team to the Rebel Black Bear, Peavy is hopeful to find them in the crowd. The invitation will also be extended to Mr. and Miss. Ole Miss.
“It is not just about frills and fashion,” Peavy said. “It is something that everyone you know from the Ole Miss community can come together at this event and learn something about sustainability and really take something from it. So we are doing this to broaden the audience.”
The designers are rapidly working, with around two and a half weeks under their belt so far, and the big reveal is edging ever closer. Once the photo shoots have been completed and the promotional video has been shot, the Eco-Fashion Gala will be one step closer to the big event.
Peavy said he is looking forward to the gala. By expanding the audience and having the campus embrace the event, he said he will feel like he completed a job well done.
“I think my biggest reward would definitely be to see everyone there and enjoying it,” Peavy said.
The Eco-Fashion Gala will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 23 in Bryant Hall. For more information, follow the Green at Ole Miss Twitter account, “like” the Facebook page and follow the Instagram hashtags.
— Chandler Clarkson
cbclarks@go.olemiss.edu
