By Lili McMurtrey
Leopard print, disco balls and faux fur filled the room as attendees filtered in from the biting cold to see the latest fall fashions come to life on the catwalk.
Quinn & Foster, a local clothing store in downtown Bellingham, hosted a charity fashion show on Thursday, Nov. 8., benefiting the local nonprofit Women Sharing Hope.
According to Heather Hulbert, a member of Women Sharing Hope, the local organization is completely run by volunteers and raises funds through different types of events each year. She said for each event, the membership of volunteers votes on which charities proceeds will be donated to.
“One of the most unique things about Women Sharing Hope is that each year we are kind of a fundraising thinktank and events-driven organization,” Hulbert said.
In the past, Women Sharing Hope has donated money to organizations such as Skookum Kids, a group aiming to repair the foster care system by training foster parents and facilitating placement, according to their website.
Hulbert said she’d been involved with the nonprofit for about 14 years and that the group is a mix of many different people, each interested in helping their community through volunteering and fundraising.
“We have members who are 20 years old and all the way up,” she said. “We’ve got a member who’s 82.”
Kelly Sygitowicz, Quinn & Foster’s floor manager, said she hopes the event will become an annual tradition. This year, 10 percent of the ticket sales went to Women Sharing Hope’s Community Fund, which is used to fund individual requests for help. While this may be Quinn & Foster’s first charity fashion show, Sygitowicz said they are following in the footsteps of other Bellingham retail stores.
Quinn & Foster took over the corner storefront at 128 Holly St. after the longtime clothing retailer, Gary’s, left the space in 2016. Sygitowicz said Gary’s was a downtown fixture for about 40 years and held their own fashion show each fall.
Sygitowicz said she was a Gary’s customer and even modeled in a few of their shows. When she began working for Chris Hayward, the owner of Quinn & Foster, she suggested continuing the tradition.
The store’s tall, wide windows were carefully decorated with mannequins wearing chic modern clothing. Inside, the walls were filled with modern artwork and colorful mismatched rugs. Clothing racks lined the perimeter to make way for the L-shaped catwalk and rows of white folding chairs.
Guests browsed the clothing racks with wine glasses in hand as the models got ready to strut down the runway. Star-shaped lanterns twinkled above and the upbeat music fueled the crowd’s anticipation.
As the models came out one by one, the crowd cheered and snapped pictures. Outfits started out casual and gradually moved into evening-wear.
Sygitowicz said the store itself is organized to show the many ways pieces can be worn to fit each customer's style. Each rack is filled with pieces that could work together in a few different ways. She said the store focused on building an entire wardrobe for its customers.
