For the third year, a group of leading women will take to the catwalk in a fashion show for a cause, raising funds to raise awareness for survivors of domestic violence.
The P7 Walk With Purpose on September 17 features the P7 Divas, or Powerful 7, women leaders in their communities and professions, many of whom are themselves survivors of domestic violence. The fashion show is the centerpiece of a party that begins with casino games, then includes a performance by R&B singer, songwriter and harpist Tulani, the main fashion show, and then a live DJ and dance party that lasts until midnight.
Organizer Lisa Jones, founder of Silence No More, said for her, P stands for power – not just in status, but in giving, togetherness and harmony between models.
“They have become a sister,” she said. “When they need each other, they’re in group chats. It’s a different age group, nationality and they have a bond. …. It’s just an amazing, amazing energy.”
Jones is the founder of Silence No More, a platform for real-time collaboration between organizations, agencies, community members, elected officials, and victims and survivors to build a system to support survivors for two full years after they turn away from their violence. partner.
The P7 Divas vote for a non-profit organization to support each year. This year’s event will benefit Women Giving Back, a Sterling-based organization that provides clothing for women and children escaping domestic violence. Both organizations can help prevent survivors from returning to their abusers – often, among the controls abusers seek over their victims is control over their money and other resources, which can make it difficult to leave.
Jones said the fashion show isn’t all about the glamour, it’s all about the mission.
“It was important to me that they didn’t volunteer just to be seen – I wanted them for the mission. For the first year, no one could know they were in a fashion show. Nobody knew that until they were actually on a stage,” she said.
But the P7 Divas are there for the mission, as is their New York-based clothing designer, Afua Sam.
Sam recalled meeting Jones years ago at an event to serve autistic children through fashion and art. For Sam, who has been designing since she was young and taught herself to sew in order to create what was in her head, her talent and art have always been tools of service and liberation .
“I was a victim myself years ago and I realized that as soon as I got the courage to leave, even though it took me a long time, everything started to shine a lot,” she said. “My creativity came out even more, because I am free.”
The first year, she collaborated with other designers on the show. But she later decided to take on the entire show herself – despite the workload of designing multiple outfits for multiple models. This allows her to put her artistic vision for the show, with Jones, on stage.
“I knew the focus would be more if we narrowed these things down,” Sam said.
And she said work becomes “effortless” when you love what you do.
“The love behind what you’re doing gives you more joy when you’re creating pieces like this. And for a cause like this, it’s something dear to my heart,” she said. “And I always — ever since I started designing, and because it’s a gift — I always know that when you have a gift, it’s not just for you. It’s for people, to create happiness, to make others smile.”
Many of the models have participated since the first year, Solitaire Carroll said. She is the founder of One Sparrow, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving communities in Haiti with hands-on instruction for students in gardening and agriculture, pop-up health clinics and health education, and a college preparatory program in the US for first- generation of immigrant families, and which was the beneficiary of last year’s fashion show. She also helps with Silence No More and said the mission fits well with her nonprofit’s work to lift people out of poverty.
“A lot of the root cause of homelessness and economic inequality, especially for women, is domestic violence,” Carroll said. “Whether they don’t leave, whether they’re the reason they’re staying, whether they’re impoverished now because they left but didn’t have the resources — a lot of times, they need re-education. They need help finding a new job. They need help, their children need help to get back on their feet.”
She said that learning more about domestic violence — such as resources for victims, how to recognize and be sensitive to domestic violence and dispel stereotypes about it — is also important.
“I really believe that education is the answer to a lot of situations that we’re facing in society, whether it’s homelessness, whether it’s domestic violence, whether it’s inequality, whether it’s economic inequality,” she said.
Jones said the P7 Divas have had an impact they can’t even question.
“Our hope is that other women will speak up, and they have,” Jones said. “I don’t even think they know the good they’re doing—they really don’t. I’ve had a lot of women pull me aside because of them.”
The P7 Fashion Show Fundraiser begins at 5:00pm on Saturday, September 17th at 21586 Atlantic Boulevard, Sterling. Tickets are available at p7phasethree.com.
Reporter Alexis Gustin conducted interviews for this story.
