Look out Smithers, your peaked-roof and flowers town is about to go vogue.
“Fashion for Peace” hits the catwalks Thursday, Aoril 26 at 7 p.m. and guests are expected to raise lots of money for a good cause.
But the chain drapes, fuchsia walls, and lingerie at the 19+ show will likely raise a few eyebrows as well.
“It’s going to be a phenomenal, out-of-this-world event,” owner of Sedaz Lingerie Amy Brandstetter said,
“It’s probably the craziest thing Smithers has ever seen.”
By selling $40 seats and big-ticket items in their silent auction, Brandstetter hopes the show becomes an annual fundraiser for the Northern Society for Domestic Peace.
The society is a social services agency that runs a 24-hour crisis shelter for women and children as well as counselling and support services for women, men and their families.
Brandstetter says she knows first-hand how hard everyone works at Domestic Peace.
“They super-helped me, and now I want to help them,” she said was the motivation behind the lingerie show.
When she got help, Brandstetter said she was a single mom who had to get through a difficult court process to escape an abusive partner.
Staff at Domestic Peace gave her a heads-up on what court would be like, Brandsetter said and her abusive ex-husband wound up going to jail.
“People don’t think it’s a problem in small towns,” she said.
“But they help out a lot more people than everyone thinks.
Today, Brandstetter is happily married, and putting her man to work on the show.
“He’s an everything-man.
He’s just a great husband.
“I told him, ‘I want a catwalk that goes down the whole length of the Aspen,’ and he’s doing it, 30 inches off the ground.”
Co-hosting the show is Ella Butz, owner of Mainerz clothing shop, who says the night will be an equal draw for men and women.
“It’s going to be packed,” she said, adding that she expects the show to sell out.
Ten women and six men will share the catwalk, she said.
Hair and make-up for the brave souls stepping out on the catwalk is courtesy of Lokks and Fourth Avenue Salon.
The silent auction, too, seems pitched to girly-girls, manly men and everyone in between.
It runs the gamut from women’s clothes and lingerie to sausages, a helicopter tour, even a free load of gravel.
Fashion for Peace runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Aspen River House on April 26.
Guests must be 19 years or older to attend.