Soroptimist of Greater Santa Clarita Valley recently hosted its “Opening Doors to a Brighter Future” Fashion show at Hyatt Regency Valencia, a fundraising event for the organization.
The event was a true fashion show, with models – locals or from Soroptimist – strutting down the catwalk wearing local designs from contributors including Boho Western Boutique, Glitz Sparkle Valencia, White House Black Market Valencia, and others.
Tara Rice, fashion coordinator for the show, said without the donations from local boutiques there would be no show, but it also wouldn’t have been possible without everyone donating their time as well.
“The hardest part is orchestrating it – making sure that we have the models that we need for each segment of the show. We have four segments, going through all the fittings, making sure the clothing looks good on each model, all of that takes a lot of time,” said Rice. “And really just kind of like getting the community involved as a whole to make this successful event. So it’s everyone kind of coming together. It’s not just Soroptimist, but it’s also the clothing stores that want to be a part of it and the models that are donating their time, everyone’s donating their time.”
One of the four segments of the show, the male model contest, was a crowd favorite. The models were prominent local dignitaries, which included Capt. Justin Diez, Mayor Pro Tem Jason Gibbs, and Matt Nelson, CEO of the SCV Boys and Girls Club.
When Diez strutted down the catwalk, master of ceremonies Ed Masterson said, “Somebody call a cop because it’s illegal to be this good-looking,” to which Diez responded by brandishing a pair of handcuffs and twirling them around his finger. This got the biggest reaction from the crowd that night.
Jessica Kreuzberger, co-chair of the event, said the fashion show aimed to plant seeds of success for all of the members.
“It’s one of our signature programs,” said Kreuzberger. “We work with the young girls to kind of talk to them about their goals and aspirations and different ways that they can achieve those things and kind of just plant really beneficial seeds to further them and all of these things that they want to accomplish.”
Kreuzberger said one of her favorite parts about their annual fashion show is the fact that it brings the community together.
“It’s the community, seeing everybody come together today for one common goal and we all kind of have the same mission and the same mindset on all of these incredible things,” said Kreuzberger. “We’re all trying to achieve for the community. So seeing everybody just come together as one today is probably the most exciting for me personally.”
