On April 2nd, Aveda held the 6th annual Catwalk for Water in Boston, in which local Aveda salons showcase--fashion show style--amazing looks that they have created entirely of recycled and repurposed materials. The creativity and talent that goes into these designs--as well as the hair and makeup--is remarkable. The goal was to raise awareness and funds for Clean Water Fund to kick off Earth Month 2017. This year Aveda aimed to raise $6.5 million globally during the month of April, all going towards efforts for clean water by Clean Water Fund and other organizations (the numbers are still being compiled!). Since 1999, Aveda has raised more than $50 million to support environmental projects around the world. In addition to the Catwalk for water, Aveda salons across Massachusetts are holding events from a beach cleanup to a pizza night to service-a-thons in which proceeds from haircuts and manicures are donated to Clean Water Fund.
It is clear that the members of Aveda are very dedicated to their mission: “...to care for the world we live in, from the products we make to the ways in which we give back to society. At Aveda, we strive to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility, not just in the world of beauty, but around the world.” At the Catwalk they competed to see which side of the room could say the mission statement louder before kicking off the show, which started with three hair stylists coming on stage to showcase their talent.
The dresses, all made out of packing material, old CDs, hair color tubes, highlighting foils and anything else found lying around houses and salons, were incredibly detailed and followed the theme of clean water. My favorite model was styled to resemble an oil spill and pollution. Her dress and accessories were made of garbage bags and materials recovered from local restaurants, which may have otherwise ended up in our water. She had six-pack plastic rings around her neck and cocktail straws as bracelets. Her hair was dyed in iridescent reds, greens, and purples to resemble the way that oil looks on top of water. The design stood in stark contrast to the other more glamorous dresses, as it was designed to reflect the scary and un-pretty nature of pollution.
I was given the exciting opportunity to be a judge at the show, and was able to view all of the designs up close. After the show, myself and the two other judges got to decide which looks stood out among the rest. Three awards were given out at the end of the show for best hair/makeup, best upcycled fashion, and best overall. There was a tie for the first award, one model was styled as a water goddess, who had gold covering her, and and intricate updo with the color tubes fashioned into a headpiece. The other salon that won best hair and makeup had their model styled as earth, wind and fire--she had short blue hair styled into finger waves, and blue leaf surrounding her eyes. The second award was given to a salon that styled their model in what they described as classic fairy tale villain, a la Maleficent from sleeping beauty. Her hair was a light and earthy purple color, styled into two horns, and her dress was a floor length gown made entirely of small pieces of garbage bags woven together. Finally, the best overall went to a salon that designed a look around mother nature - her makeup and hair resembled a deer (gold antlers made out of color tubes), and her dress was made of boxes from the salon covered with color tubes formed into flowers and many more small details, making her skirt very colorful.
All of the designs and hair/makeup were extremely thoughtful and showed incredible talent. The commitment and enthusiasm that Aveda has to the environment was clear throughout the evening; It was a celebration of their success and continued work for the environment and environmentally responsible beauty products.
