Fashion Fights Aids for World AIDS Day

This season’s list of fashion must-haves and wardrobe essentials has been given a whole new meaning, as sextxt™, Marie Stopes International and the Melbourne School of Fashion joined forces in the fight against AIDS.

In an effort to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS and celebrate World AIDS Day (1 December), students were invited to design a range of condom clothing creations - producing a number of safe alternatives to the little black dress!

Seven Melbourne School of Fashion students took on the challenge and set to work with the thousands of condoms provided by Marie Stopes International. The final amazing condom creations include:

• Felicity Chandler’s gold and glittery fairy outfit (skirt & top), with condom wings and headband;
• Budcy Nun’s colourful flowerprint and clear corset;
• Angela Ims’s dark blue tube dress featuring the World AIDS Day red ribbon;
• Melisa Gray-Ward natural colour weaved bodice and black netting skirt;
• Tane Ozlu’s gold 1920s style dress & hat with chain and lace detail;
• Leanne Failla’s silver strapless dress with white small ball bustier; and
• Luisa Cabrera Cuellar’s white nurses outfit with collar, tutu style skirt with white & red netting.

The garments will be on display at the Fashion Incubator (Level 2 of Melbourne Central, 211 LaTrobe Street Melbourne) from 1 December until 31 December 2006. The very funky Fashion Incubator was established in 2001 to support and promote emerging designers and help them to establish successful businesses. It is the only design and fashion incubator in Australia, and one of only five fashion incubators in the world. For more information, check out www.fashionincubator.com.au.

Following their exhibition at the Fashion Incubator, the Melbourne School of Fashion (144 George Street, Fitzroy) will be displaying the garments in their foyer until February 2006. The Melbourne School of Fashion was established in 1991 and is a private institution which specialised in providing vocational training for young designers to make it big in the fashion industry. For more information, check out www.melbourneschooloffashion.com.au

DID YOU KNOW………

By the end of 2005 around the world an estimated:

• 38.6 million people world­wide were living with HIV;
• 4.1 million became newly infected with HIV;
• 2.8 million lost their lives to AIDS.

By the end of 2005 in Australia, there was an estimated:

• 22,361 diagnoses of HIV infection;
• 9,872 diagnoses of AIDS;
• 6,668 deaths following AIDS;
• 15,310 people were living with HIV/AIDS, including around 1,100 adult/adolescent women.

The number of new HIV diagnoses in Australia increased by 41% between 2000 and 2005.

Around the world more than 50% of young people newly infected with HIV today are between fifteen and twenty-four years old, with nearly 6,000 young people in this age group becoming infected each day.

Don’t become a statistic……………practice safer sex at all times by using a condom and having regular STI check ups.