Auditions for Alegria Fashion Show: like New Orleans' own Project Runway

October 14, 4:11 PMNew Orleans Fashion News ExaminerKatherine Bernard

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Alegria judges hold up a fabric sample by artist Sarah Dunn, 27 ( Far Right).

Last week, a group of fashion designers from New Orleans competed for one of five spots in the Alegria Fashion Show, an annual event to benefit the Louisiana Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The show will take place on February 28, 2010 at the W Hotel New Orleans, and proceeds will help support the LA/SPCA's Low Cost Veterinary Clinic. 

Auditions were held Project Runway style, with each designer presenting part of a collection to a panel of judges, then facing a round of questions about their work.

The winner will receive a dress maniquin and sewing machine, $500 and an additional prize package. If it sounds like a beginning designer's dream come true, it's because the contest was developed by John Delgadillo, a local New Orleans designer who has been a leader in the industry since he came to New Orleans from Los Angeles in 2005.  

Prizes aside, many of the designers auditioning were most excited for the opportunity to show a full 12 piece collection. A few designers graduated from FIT, and brought samples from their senior collections.

Though the competition was stiff, the atmosphere was fun.

"You have slapped us all across the face with beautiful garments," Delgadillo told Corrie Wright Pellerin, 27, whose scores qualified her to show at the Alegria LA/SPCA event. 

Along with Pellerin, Danielle Arthur, 34, Sarah Dunn, 27, Bernadette Klotz, Leigh Reveley, 32, and Gerald Watson, 36, will show their spring collections. 

Candidates were scored on their design, construction, presentation and enthusiasm.

Delgadillo sets the standard to benefit the cause. He donates 10 percent of his personal earnings each year to the animal shelter. 

"The creative process for me is all about giving," Delgadillo said. "What you design can be beautiful, but what you do with it should be too."

Alegria Fashion Show to benefit the LA/SPCA Low Cost Veterinary Clinic will be held on February 28, 2010 at the W Hotel on Poydras St, from 2-5 pm. Tickets are $25. For more information, contact Lori Haeuser, director of Community Outreach for the LA/SPCA at lori@la-spca.org.

PHOTO BY ORIANA CALMAN