More Thoughts on Fair Trade and the Fashion Show

From senior David Idler:

A few weeks ago, a few of my classmates and I decided to help prepare for the Fair Trade Fashion Show. In the process, I learned a lot about fair trade and how crucial the bare bones of any project, like a fashion show, are. Although we spent most of our time driving around helping pick out decorations and fair trade products, the fashion show couldn’t have taken place without our help, and my classmates and I helped raise awareness about the importance of fair trade. After extensive research on different fair trade chocolate and coffee brands, which we were looking at to buy for the fashion show, I discovered how important the fair trade system was, as it offers better trading conditions to, and secures the rights of, marginalized producers and workers. We looked at brands such as Sunspire, Green Mountain, Nibmore, and Equal Exchange to distribute at the fashion show to help raise awareness to fair trade. We helped instill the fact that we must continue buying fair trade brands in order to try to discontinue sweatshops and other inhumane manufacturing methods. 

One of the fair trade chocolates we bought for the fashion show

Overall, I’m very happy I participated in assisting in the fair trade fashion show; I gained an understanding that even the most seemingly meaningless part of an operation could, in retrospect, be the most important part. Similarly, while some may think fair trade brands are simply ridiculous, slightly more expensive brands, the work I put in for the fashion show helped me realize that fair trade is certainly an ongoing problem throughout the world. Even the miniscule percent of people that learned about the importance of fair trade thanks to our work is a big step forward to terminating this worldwide dilemma.

Musings on the Frisch Fashion Show

As part of their end-of-year requirements, a group of seniors chose to blog about their experience planning, organizing and/or helping out with the Frisch RealSchool Fashion Show and Dance Performance. Here is a selection of their thoughts:

Here is Danit's post. Danit was one of three students last year who came up with the idea of having a fashion show at Frisch. This year, she once again was one of the organizers of the show:

A fashion show is such an easy thing to say you're going to plan. People think it's an easy process, but really it is one of the most stressful and difficult things to organize. For the past two years I have organized a fashion show in my school. I worked with my classmates and two amazing teachers. My experience was unique and enlightening.

To be honest, I have usually been the type of person to give up or quit or wait for my parents to help me when I have something I need to do. The fashion show was one thing I did all by myself -- well, along with the help of all the other great people involved, but you know what I mean -- and got done successfully. 

My desire to create a fashion show started last year when my best friends and I became obsessed with a fashion blogger named Man Repeller. We started to dress like her, and we wanted the Frisch community to be influenced by her as well, so we decided to create a fashion show that would have clothing combinations Man Repeller would be proud of. The uniqueness of the fashion show for me was doing something I was passionate about, with my best friends, and being able to mix and match all different styles of clothing the way Man Repeller did!

Some crazy Man Repller outfits that inspired the look
of last year's fashion show!

Creating a fashion show was enlightening for me as well, because I learned so much in the process. For instance, I learned how to speak to high-end companies, to organize and plan events, and to try my hardest! This show brought out the best of my abilities, and I was so happy to have shared it with fellow Frisch faculty, students, and community!

One of the things I enjoyed the most about being one of the organizers of the show was knowing about everything going on in it, from beginning to end. Even though it sometimes felt overwhelming to have people coming to me and asking me what to do, where to go, how to do something, etc., I truly felt like a leader. I'm the youngest in my family and am usually the one asking for help and looking up to everyone else; it was great to take on a leadership role in the fashion show and have people be able to depend on me to help them!

My fashion show experience was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything, and I hope some day other Frisch students will get to experience the same feelings I did! 

And here is Jojo's post about his role helping out for this all-female event:

As my senior year of high school was ending, I decided to do something that I never would have ever thought about doing in four years of high school: I decided to help my English teacher Mrs. Wiener and other fellow classmates with the 2013 Frisch Fashion Show. I, along with seven other classmates, was asked if we wanted to participate as part of the requirements of completing my senior year. When I first heard about the project, I was skeptical about it and thought I would accomplish nothing and just follow orders. I did not want to be part of the show and was even thinking about taking a classic English final in order to finish my course requirements. Then it occurred to me that I always wanted to be a helpful person and writing a traditional English class essay would prevent me from doing that. So I decided to help with the fashion show as my final assignment.

Women helped by Somaly Mam!

The Fashion Show was raising money for Somaly Mam, a foundation that works to stop female slavery in Southeast Asia. How did this show raise the money? Well, that’s where my classmates and I came in. Part of our job was to get the merchandise that would be sold by the fashion show in order to raise the money. A classmate and I had to scour Bergen County in order to locate and buy kosher fair trade coffee and chocolate to sell at the show. If you enjoyed any of the fair trade food at the show, you have us to thank! Our efforts helped Frisch raise awareness of and money for Somaly Mam, and for that I feel like I accomplished a great deal at the end of my Frisch career.

Our Fashion Show Sponsors

PLEASE PATRONIZE OUR 

FASHION SHOW SPONSORS

Ezrah’s Closet: A Division of Project Ezrah

For our Models’ Ethical Fashion Choices 

95 Cedar Lane, Englewood

201-569-904

email Susan@Ezrah.org

Project Ezrah is a place to find gently worn work, school and special occasion garments for women, teens, girls and men. Contact Susan@Ezrah.org or Inbar@Ezrah.org

Glam Salon: For our Models’ Hair and Makeup

To make an appointment, call 201-567-3324

40 Grand Avenue, Englewood

Teaneck General Store: For our Fair Trade Items

502A Cedar Lane, Teaneck

201-530-5046

Who's the Fairest of Them All?: Fashion Show Update

Our Charity

“IT OUGHT TO CONCERN EVERY PERSON, BECAUSE IT IS A DEBASEMENT OF OUR COMMON HUMANITY. IT OUGHT TO CONCERN EVERY COMMUNITY, BECAUSE IT TEARS AT OUR SOCIAL FABRIC. IT OUGHT TO CONCERN EVERY BUSINESS, BECAUSE IT DISTORTS MARKETS. IT OUGHT TO CONCERN EVERY NATION, BECAUSE IT ENDANGERS PUBLIC HEALTH AND FUELS VIOLENCE AND ORGANIZED CRIME. I’M TALKING ABOUT THE INJUSTICE, THE OUTRAGE, OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING, WHICH MUST BE CALLED BY ITS TRUE NAME — MODERN SLAVERY.”

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

It's confirmed: part of the proceeds of the Who's the Fairest of Them All?, our Fashion Show this year, is going to Not for Sale, an organization that works to end slavery. Also confirmed is our Fashion Show date: May 19!

Here's a video from the founder of Not for Sale:

We may want to consider the ethical products available from the Not for Sale store: Not for Sale Store, and we also want to contact the organization to see how we can work together for the show.

Finance 

Speaking of making contacts, we also worked on a script for the girls on the show's finance team. Those girls are going to be contacting vendors who will sell their ethical products at the show. 

Here's our script:

Script for Vendor

Hi, my name is _________________, and I’m calling from The Frisch School. We’re making a fashion show for women only on May 19 called “Who’s the Fairest of Them All?” and we’re focusing on fair food and fair trade practices. Our school has over 500 students and is connected to the local Bergen County community, and an active parent association and alumni network. We’re donating part of the proceeds from the show to the school and part to Not for Sale, an organization that works to end slavery around the world.

We wanted to bring in vendors to sell products that are in line with our ethical fashion focus and fashion in general. Before and after the show, anyone attending will have time to shop and eat fair trade food products. Since you sell ___________, we wanted to know if you wanted to display and sell your merchandise at our show.

Script for Fair Trade Chocolate or Coffee Donation

Hi, my name is _________________, and I’m calling from The Frisch School. We’re making a fashion show for women only on May 19 called “Who’s the Fairest of Them All?” and we’re focusing on fair food and fair trade practices. Our school has over 500 students and is connected to the local Bergen County community, and an active parent association and alumni network. We’re donating part of the proceeds from the show to the school and part to Not for Sale, an organization that works to end slavery around the world.

We want to know if you’re interested in donating fair trade food products such as kosher coffee or chocolate. We’ll include your store name in emails and print media we create to advertise the event. We’ll also prominently display your store name on the night of the event, on posters and near the food tables.

Orange is Our New Black

Don't think our choice of script color is accidental: Orange is our new black, because orange is the anti-slavery color. That means our Fashion Show T-shirts are, of course, going to be orange. We've set some artistic students the task of coming up with a logo for the fashion show, which we'll then put on a T-shirt we sell for the night. Our models will wear the shirts as well, when they come out for their final turn on the catwalk.

Choosing the Models

On Monday, Shushan Purim, an appropriate day for this, we think, we'll be choosing the models for the show. The way we choose is as follows: we announce to all the girls of the kingdom, sorry, the school (we got carried away with the Shushan Purim thing), that they can submit their names to be chosen for the fashion show. We'll have a box for each grade, and we'll choose 4-8 girls per grade. We'll have to decide, and we'll have to see how many girls submit their names. The selection will take place on Monday afternoon, at Mincha.  

The Clothes

Once we have our models, each grade's designers can see what size and shape girls they'll be dressing. The designers will work out the outfits they want for the two styles of clothes they have to create (see the earlier blog post if you forgot: Outline of the Show). Once the designers have their ideas, we'll contact a department store to see if they want to loan us clothes. We'll also raid all of our own closets and perhaps also work with Project Ezrah, an organization that donates and/or sells gently used clothes at reasonable prices to families that are experiencing financial difficulties. Project Ezrah works well with the ethical fashion mission we're on!

Great work, Fashion Team! We're getting so much done!

Update from RS Meeting

RealSchool members had a lot to do as we gathered for the first time since Chanukah:

Religious Identity and Video Production

The Religious Identity and Video Production teams met to discuss the content of the 2-3-minute video they plan to film about how to make prayer more meaningful for students. As RS members brainstormed ideas for the video, Marni came up with a great tagline for the Religious Identity team in general: 

Turning Practice Into Purpose

We love it, Marni! Thanks!

Religious Identity is also gearing up for its next discussion on prayer, which will be on December 26 and will cover Tefillah in Talmud. Since we began the discussion series with a look at how prayer appears in Tanakh, we thought one next logical step would be seeing how prayer is addressed in the Talmud. Frisch has agreed to allow RealSchool to host a minyan on the days that we run a discussion group, so we'll do so that morning. Penina came up with a headline for the flyer we'll post to advertise the minyan:

Be the minyan you want to see in the world.

Great stuff, Penina. Thanks go out to you, too!

Karen, who heads Graphic Design, is going to make us a logo for with the line, so we'll be able to use the logo every time we run the minyan.

Last week many of RealSchool's Religious Identity members led discussions with the freshmen about where to draw the line between Judaism and the secular world. The discussion was part of an integration program at Frisch called Greek Week. For more information about Greek Week, see Greek Week at Frisch: Cougars Draw the Line. The Religious Identity team liked the way the discussion went and wants to have more of them with the freshmen. Therefore, what came out of tonight's meeting is a three-pronged approach to creating more mindfulness in student religious practice:

1) Videos, made for and by students, about the search for religious meaning
2) Additional discussions about prayer and a RealSchool minyan on the day of the discussions
3) Continued informal discussions with the freshmen, led by RealSchool: Religious Identity members

Graphic Design and Health and Environment

Religious Identity and Video Production weren't the only teams that got things done tonight. Graphic Design also laid out an action plan for the next few weeks, so we can realize our goal of having student-made logos for each of our RS teams. Health and Environment team continued work on the green cookbook we plan to make, although we're rethinking whether we want a formal cookbook or an app/website that we update, so we have a virtual recipe folder. Health and Environment team members also decided they want to focus on giving healthy makeovers to unhealthy recipes. Whatever else we decide on, one thing is clear: a recipe for kale chips is a must!

Soon you'll be able to make these kale chips yourself,
thanks to RealSchool's Health and Environment team and
Frisch's Environmental Club

Thanks to everyone who attended tonight. We got a lot done and also managed to get in some ad hoc discussions of one of our favorite topics at RS: education reform.

Finance and Fashion

Next on the to-do list:

Finance Team events
The Frisch Fashion Show, which we'll plan this year with the school's dance team