No Shvitz: Fashion for Passion, a no-sweatshop fashion show organized by Hillel of Greater Toronto combined the pursuit of fashion with aspirations toward social change.
“If you combine fashion with heart, you can never go wrong,” gushed Lydia Guo, a University of Toronto student, and newly elected president of communications for U Fashion, U of T’s fashion club.
“The clothes actually looked like something students might wear, they were functional,” said Claire Schacter, a University of Toronto student and member of Hillel, when asked what she thought of the clothing lines.
The show began with a quick language lesson. The show’s title, it was explained, comes from the Yiddish word for “sweat.” Talk then turned to Hillel’s social justice program Tzedek Hillel, whose name comes from the Hebrew word tseddek, meaning justice, and tseddakah, a derivative of the word that means charity. The program, organizers explained, was meant to show that “the value of charity can be linked to justice.”
The models were clothed in No Sweat’s 100 per cent union-made apparel, designed by Israeli fashion designers. Unique to the show was The One, a line of clothing designers claimed was made in a sweatshop-free, Palestinian-owned factory in Bethlehem on the West Bank. The clothing line touts itself as helping to “build prosperity, co-operation and peace at the very heart of the conflict in the Middle East.”
At different points during the show, the audience was treated to performances by York University breakdancing troupe the Supernaturals, who also staged a belly-dancing routine.
Also included in the show was a MuchMusic video interview with various musical acts.
“The idea of incorporating fashion into social justice work makes the show that much more compelling,” said Claudia Honetschlaeger, a first-year student at the University of Toronto.”
The show ended with a Hebrew performance of the song “Peace Will Come Upon Us” (Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu) by event organizer Orly Cohen. Afterwards, the evening continued with a silent auction of sweat-free, fair-trade items a party that continued long into the night.
Part of the proceeds from the event will go to the Israeli charity, Save a Child’s Heart, which provides urgently needed pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care for children from third world and developing countries. Save a Child’s Heart has helped children in countries that include Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, Vietnam, and Zanzibar.
