Published: November 17, 2010

Fordham’s Graduate School of Business (GBA) hosted Style Worthwhile, a fashion show in conjunction with department store, Lord & Taylor on Nov. 12. The scene was a dimly lit duplex loft on the West Side, overlooking a spectacle of lights formed by buildings and boats cruising along the Hudson.

GBA administrators, faculty and students took the runway in Fordham Retail Club’s inaugural fashion show benefiting the non-profit organization, Dress for Success. Celebrity stylist Katy Robbins and Erin Turon, best known for their work with Brooke Shields, Kelly Ripa and Jimmy Fallon, provided their expertise free of charge to create all the looks strutting the catwalk, while Lord & Taylor sponsored all the clothes for the charity event.

“The main focus of this evening is to raise awareness for Dress for Success while providing an atmosphere that allows GBA students to network and become close,” Nina Zadeh, president of the Fordham Retail Club (FRC), said.

Dress for Success was founded in 1997, and provides career development services to women in order to help them solidify a position in today’s job market. Each woman is given one suit when they land an interview and additional pieces when they secure a working position.

Both Robbins and Turon said they agree that the mission behind Dress for Success is what attracted them to lend their services to the Fordham Retail Club.

“We both encourage people to donate to Dress for Success when we do our closet makeovers. Rummaging through people’s closets is where we find our best clothes, nice pieces that people no longer wear or have forgotten about and we send them to Dress for Success,” Turon said.

Robbins nodded in agreement and said, “What more can we possibly do than contribute what we do best and dress people? It’s nice to have opportunities like these to put our skills and services to good use and help people in need.”

This mentality is what attracted Kristina Apicella, a first year GBA student, to the project. “An event like this is multifold. Style Worthwhile is a great way for all GBA students, their friends and family to go out for a night to support a good cause, network and have fun,” Apicella said.

According to Zadeh, FRC anticipated roughly 200 people to attend. “The guests are composed of mostly GBA family, friends and alumni. We also reach out to CBA [College of Business Administration] because we are looking for CBA support in upcoming events,” Zadeh said.

All guests enjoyed a wide variety of hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and music from DJ Trauma. Guests walked away with gift certificates, bottles of wine and decorative baskets, as prizes were raffled off continuously throughout the night.

Zadeh said that FRC began planning this event back in May of 2010, but hopes it blossoms into an annual occurrence for the GBA program. “This is absolutely something we wish to carry on. We reached out to Lord & Taylor because they do a lot of third party events and they were extremely open to doing this with us, so we hope to continue this partnership,” Zadeh said.

Both Robbins and Turon simultaneously said “yes” when asked if their services could be enlisted again if this event were to continue each year. Look for Style Worthwhile this time next year, as well as for ways to get involved and donate your time and support.