Carolina Productions hosts condom fashion show
{besps}simpleslideshowimages/news/projectcondom2012{/besps}
Tuesday night marked the fifth annual Project Condom Fashion Show, organized by Carolina Productions in partnership with the Student Health Services, Campus Wellness and Changing Carolina Peer Leaders.
Preluded by a playful table on Greene Street promoting birth control and safe sex with punchy t-shirts and in-your-face condoms, Project Condom is designed to be an informal way to address contraceptives, safe sex and HIV/AIDS and STD prevention.
“Project Condom is a fun way to talk about condoms, safe sex and HIV prevention,” Adam Mayer, a first-year exercise science student, said. “It’s about safe sex, and Mondo [Guerra] admitted that he was HIV positive and he is here supporting it, so people know it’s a big deal.”
Even before the doors opened an hour before the show, a line had formed outside Russell House Ballroom. The event garnered much attention from its past years’ and this year’s special guest, Mondo Guerra, of Project Runway season 8.
In a room of flashing lights and loud music, with everyone wearing glow stick bracelets supporting AIDS awareness, you would not expect it to be a learning experience. Project Condom is designed to promote sexual health and awareness in a casual atmosphere. One Condoms provided all of the condoms used to construct the designs, as well as the ones handed out to audience members.
Hannah Kowalczyk, now a consultant for Project Condom and a staff member in the neurology unit at the School of Medicine, was a contestant of Season Five and a Top Six contender.
“[We all] have that one friend who’s shy, and if they come then they see that it’s okay and it’s acceptable to talk about sex ... We need to talk more about [safe sex],” Kowalczyk said when asked why she thought it was an effective means of communication.
For many students, the best part of the show is the condom creations modeled on stage. Styled in a variety of colors and numerous different fashions, each piece was designed to promote different causes of sexual health, such as pregnancy or STD prevention, birth control rights and taking charge of your personal sex life.
With designs ranging from a caveman to Michael Jackson, every piece was made of condoms, some glittered, spray-painted and inflated to enhance each design. Even a Marilyn Monroe look-alike graced the runway, as well as a bride and a fairy godmother.
There were a total of 13 teams gracing the runway, but it was narrowed down to the Top Six via audience text-voting and the decisions of the judges. The final contestants included creations by the Bisexual Gay Lesbian and Straight Alliance and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance. After answering questions from the judges, the winners were left in limbo while the judges deliberated.
Audience members were brought on stage to organize the steps of putting on a condom, written on big flashcards and shuffled between the holders, a little comic relief until the winners were announced.
After much consideration, Alpha Phi Omega and their Michael Jackson tribute took first place, followed by Mock Trial in their chained creation, and Love Story with their condom fairy. The audience-voted favorite was Alpha Phi Omega.
Mondo Guerra was a lively and charismatic judge who spoke about his own experiences with sexual abuse and struggle with his secret of having HIV. Guerra told the audience about coming forth with his disease on the reality show Project Runway.
“We all hold secrets ... we build walls to protect ourselves, and do not realize they are the same walls that keep people out,” he said.
After revealing his HIV positivity, Guerra says he is finally living his life in total happiness, surrounded by those he loves.
“The thing to remember is always be honest with yourself ... and to know that you have a gift and to continue to believe in it,” Mondo said, sound advice for those attempting it in the fashion industry, struggling with a secret, or just anyone with a dream.