A wonderful partnership between Halifax Opportunities Trust (HOT), St Augustine’s Centre, Light Up Black and African Heritage Calderdale and the Women’s Activity Centre happened at the Elsie Whiteley Innovation Centre Fashion Show. The show transformed the centre into a fashion extravaganza.

Alison Haskins, CEO of HOT, had this to say:

“We were so excited to run this fabulous community fashion show, which showcased the clothes, culture and stories of the many different people who live in Halifax. Very appropriately, we held the show in our stunning business centre which is named after its previous owner – local fashion entrepreneur Elsie Whiteley. It was a great way to bring together community partners, the heritage of this great town and the creativity of local residents”.

The night saw fashion items from Elsie Whiteley, HOT’s Inclusive Integration team and the Women’s Activity Centre on display in the centre and had two fantastic fashion shows. The first was from Light Up Black and African Heritage Calderdale. The charity created traditional African hand fans and head ties that looked amazing.

The evening was headlined by a fashion show from St Augustine’s Centre. Their project began life when Sabbah, a master tailor from Kurdistan began volunteering at St Augustine’s Centre. It became clear at the centre that Sabbah was just one of many people with sewing and design skills and so their upcycled fashion project, A Stitch Overseas, was born.

It was a powerful and wonderful evening with many inspirational stories and superb pieces of fashion shown.

Elsie Whiteley Innovation Centre also unveiled a beautiful mixed media art piece at the event by Calderdale artist Mark Siggins which you can view in the centre. It celebrates the centre as it was in the past as well as celebrating its present.

We’d also like to wish a special thanks to Culturedale for helping to make the event happen.