Practicing Safe Fashion
Nebraska AIDS Project to host condom fashion show
At next week’s Project Runway Condom Fashion Show 2010, the sex will be safe. And if attendees are lucky, the fashion will be anything but.
The Nebraska AIDS Project is hosting the fashion show for the second year, this time at Omaha’s Magnolia Hotel, 1615 Howard St., on June 23. Last year’s inaugural show featured 15 designers and 12 designs, presented at the Max downtown. This year’s show boasts a whopping 32 designers and more than 40 runway-ready designs – but two important details remain the same.
One: Condoms are the star of the show. Each participating designer received a case of condoms – 1,000 non-lubricated condoms in assorted colors, to be exact – to incorporate into designs, said Gary Winingham, NAP education manager and POL coordinator.
Two: Community education and awareness are the real catalysts behind the event.
“When we do any education, the department at NAP and all agencies preach abstinence first of all as the surest way of keeping yourself safe from all STDs, including HIV,” Winingham said. “But we’re also realists. People do participate in sex, and condoms are kind of looked at as something bad. We, as parents, as members of our community – we need to look after our friends, our loved ones, and we have to encourage that the only protection out there is the use of condoms.”
It’s a timely message – National HIV Testing Day is June 27, and Nebraska HIV Testing Week runs from June 26 through July 2.
“Every nine-and-a-half minutes here in the U.S., someone new is being told they’re HIV positive,” Winingham said. “Every three days in Nebraska, we’re telling someone new they’re HIV positive. Seventy-five percent of those new people fall between 18 and 25. No 18-year-old, no 25-year-old should ever be told they’re HIV positive. You can protect yourself – no one has to contract HIV.”
To reach that target demographic, Winingham said, this year’s fashion show is all-ages. The designers encompass a range of ages, too, as well as seasoned scene professionals and first-time presenters. Notable names include Claire Landolt, Buf Reynolds, Shamina Wiek, Sabrina Jones and Dan Richters.
The condoms gave the designers a challenge, Winingham said, because “they’re not easy to work with.” Designers didn’t get to choose their colors, either – they had to create with what they received.
“The pieces range from theatrical costumes to very elegant dresses women could wear out on a Saturday night,” Winingham said.
Off the runway, a Trojan (condom) man will further promote condom use, and white-clad gladiators will promote abstinence. Also available will be information on NAP’s free HIV testing, which can be anonymous and delivers results in 15 minutes. Other STD tests at NAP cost just $10.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. show – doors open at 6 p.m. – are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. They’re available via NAP’s website, nap.org or at the office, 250 S. 77th St. Suite A; the Icon Studio for Hair; Flixx Video Bar; Retro Rocket; and Hair.TECH.
“It’s the law for us to wear our seat belts because it’s been proven they keep us safe, they keep us alive during an accident,” Winingham said. “Why shouldn’t it be the same with condoms?”