LITTLE ROCK — Festival of Fashion will take place Friday in a winter wonderland of designer decorated trees, one of several events during Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute Auxiliary’s Festival of Trees at the Statehouse Convention Center.
Lila Ashmore is chairing the fashion show for her third and final year, and has taken the event from a ladies luncheon to a vibrant runway show showcasing clothes from local boutiques.
“We did away with the tables, we did away with the sit-down luncheon,” Ashmore says. “All the seats are runway, the doors are open at 10 a.m. Champagne and hors d’oeuvres are passed. Everybody mingles.”
“The show starts at 11 a.m. and we are wrapped up by noon,” she explains. “There is not a long program. There is not a lot of pomp and circumstance. We get right down to it.”
She also says there are no silent auctions. However, there is one item up for bid in a live auction - a trip for two to New York during fashion week with tickets to a fashion show, flight tickets and accommodations.
Ashmore explained she was asked to be chairman when the organization decided the fundraiser needed a change. “It had kind of gotten a little stale and they wanted to elevate it to a different level and they approached me - I think just because I have a passion for fashion and I’m a huge advocate for shopping local. There are so many local boutiques that no other city can parallel.”
The former freelance stylist and Inviting Arkansas editor says, “Clothing, wardrobe, styling has always kind of been part of my deal. So they called me and I had the time to do it. I had been to the event several years in a row and I kind of agreed with them that it needed new life.”
“After that first year, they asked me to come back and do it again to just keep the show going and then I guess the third time’s the charm. I’m passing the torch after this one,” Ashmore says.
She credits CARTI staff and the 15-member committee for the success of the event, as well. Of the staff, she says, “They keep cool under pressure and they think about the questions you are going to have six weeks before you have the question. To work with pros like that, it has been amazing.”
“Each year we have a style icon,” Ashmore says. “This year it is Kelly Rickard and it is not only recognizing her sense of style but her style as a human. From the time Festival of Trees is a notion at the beginning of the summer, she is hands-on through the entire process. There’s not a time where I’ve set up that she’s not covered head to toe in glitter from decorating trees and making the ballroom so beautiful. CARTI has always been her passion. It is a very well-deserved honor.”
Emily Young is co-chairman and Janelle Mason, a CARTI board member, is honorary chairman. Shelia Vaught choreographs the show.
“To be able to tap into the people on the committee,” Ashmore says, “that have fast talent and to not have to micromanage a committee makes it even more worthwhile to serve on the committee and to do it year after year. Everybody is so good at what they do.”
Ashmore also enjoys the friendships she makes along the way.
“What we have found is that the committee, especially this year - you become very connected to these people that you are volunteering with - truly they become your good friends. You take it outside of the organization and realize, ‘Why didn’t I know this person? Why didn’t I hang out with this person before?’ I’ve gotten a lot out of that, a whole lot out of that.”
Ashmore says the first thing she did when she signed on as event chairman was to tour CARTI. It is a nonprofit multispecialty cancer organization with a mission to promote the finest quality cancer treatment and compassionate care and expand knowledge through education and research.
“I met everybody from reception to radiologist to nurses to support staff; it is like a family. It truly is like a family. It doesn’t seem like an institution that you get lost in the shuffle. I mean everybody seems to know every patient, every family member.”
The money raised supports CARTI’s patients. Ashmore says the funds are for patients who can’t afford treatment or transportation to CARTI. It also assists with family lodging and meals.
Funds are raised not only through ticket sales but by sponsors. Boutique sponsors, stores that have clothes in the fashion show, are B. Barnett, Tulips, Vesta’s, Beyond Cotton, Scarlet, E. Leigh’s, Proposals, Faux Pas, Roberson’s Fine Jewelry & Gifts and The Independent.
“These local boutiques, they are supportive. They pay to be in the show. Now that there is not a Runway for a Cure fashion show, this has kind of been that thing for fall. It really gives them a great venue to show what’s in their stores. A lot of people don’t know we have these little gold mines of stores scattered through our city.”
She says she is always surprised when people want to shop online. “You have a plethora of options in your ZIP code,” she says, noting that locally owned boutiques are community-driven and support each other and local nonprofits.
There will be a mix of styles at the show, Ashmore says, with casual looks, off-the-chart sequin numbers for the holidays and higher-end boutiques that she says are already showing spring fashions. She says The Independent is showing menswear, adding that it is always a crowd-pleaser when the men come out.
“It’s just a fun vibe,” Ashmore says. “We’re moving and shaking.”Festival of Fashion is 11 a.m.-noon Friday at the Statehouse Convention Center. Tickets are $50 each. For more information on the Festival of Trees, contact Michaela Johnson at (501) 660-7616 or mdjohnson@carti.com.
High Profile, Pages 37 on 11/25/2012