This year marks the 12th year for STYLEAID and the night will once again showcase everything that is amazing about WA Fashion. STYLEAID this year also marks the last event at which I will be the event coordinator.
I have been involved with STYLEAID since the beginning when I worked as a committee member for the first 3 years. I took over the management of the event when STYLEAID turned 4 and have been fortunate to have seen the event go from strength to strength and become the number 1 fashion fundraising event in Perth.
The past few years have been remarkable for the changes that have come in to play for the event and how the Perth community has embraced it with open arms. To make an event truly remarkable you have to keep reinventing how it is presented and you have to ensure that the WOW factor is there from the minute that guests arrive to the time they step out of the ballroom and collect their gift bag on their way to the STYLEAID after party.
This element of the event has been possible because I have been fortunate to be surrounded by a committee of loyal and dedicated people who work long and hard to ensure that STYLEAID is a success. Each one of them has brought their own dynamic personality to the mix and have offered special skills that have kept STYLEAID fresh and new each year and enabling us to raise over $600,000 in the past 12 years to support the work of the WA AIDS Council.
Some of the committee have been there since the very beginning, whilst others have joined along the way. Aly May, Annette Lee, Paul McClurg and Tony Salom have all been with STYLEAID for 12 years and have each done an amazing job in various capacities. To mention all of the other committee members over the past 12 years would take too much time but they all know who they are and they all have my deep respect for their hard work and support.
It was 9 years ago that the decision was made to focus exclusively on WA designers, because Aly and I recognised that here in Perth we have some of the best design talent in the country and we were doing them a disservice by not showcasing their ranges. In 2009 we still have the best design talent which will be seen on the night of STYLEAID this year when we show the 2009/2010 ranges of 15 WA designers and also show the ranges of 6 emerging designers. Having seen some of the ranges, this year promises to be a sensational mix of all that is great about WA fashion.
In another first for the event, keeping things fresh, we are going to be having a finale that for the first time incorporates the work of student designers. Through an exhaustive selection process 12 were selected by a panel of WA designers to create garments on the theme of White On White (WOW) the STYLEAID theme for this year and each one selected has created something fresh, new and distinctive that promises to blow the audience away on the night and once again proves what amazing talent we have coming through the design schools here in Perth.
But for me, this will be my last year at the helm of StyleAID as I am moving out of fundraising. I am not moving far however as I am going to be staying with WAAC but will be taking up the new position of Diverse Sexuality Health Promotion Manager which will offer some great challenges and brings with it another amazing team of people to will be working with.
STYLEAID has been an amazing journey for me over the past 12 years and whilst I will miss it I am excited about the challenges and direction my new position holds for me.
STYLEAID will continue to evolve and grow and next year I will be sitting in the audience for the first time cheering on the WA Designers and helping WAAC raise much needed funds.
Mark Reid
