Some very 'safe' dresses at an 'Evening of Hope'

Last week, I attended Evening of Hope: A Night of Lifesaving Fashion presented by Project Inform, a San Francisco-based organization that increases HIV/AIDS awareness and strives to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

Appropriately, the theme of the evening's runway items was...

Condoms. Yes, those things hanging from this girl's hips are condoms. But before I get to the "big show," the night was treated to some special guests that included a lip synching performance by a drag queen (I think it was a drag queen) and the evening's master of ceremonies, Jack Mackenroth, the "Project Runway" alum (and UC Berkeley alum) who is very open with his HIV positive status and has designed knits and womenswear for Tommy Hilfiger.

Mr. Mackenroth's fast talking and fast movements made it nearly impossible for me to get a good pick - but it kind of looks cool, doesn't it? It's like he's at a rave or something.

A drag queen performs to a cabaret version of "Get the Party Started" - at least I think it was a drag queen. If she wasn't a drag queen, she was just a really drag-esque woman.

The runway show featured condom-infused designs by Pierre Emile Lafaurie for SEAN, Fluidance, Paul Gallo, Catherine Jane and Domini Clothing Architect. Designers used the profilactics in quirky ways, pinning them on to speedos, filling them with water and hanging them from a model via a hoop skirt effect - and Mr. Mackenroth joined in on the fun with his dramatic glue-gunned wedding gown with packets of condoms branching out from the headress and exagerrated flowers pinned to the dress - perfect for the bride who never wants to get pregnant.

I apologize for the blurry pics, but you get the idea.

But it was the Academy of Art University that made a rubber-iffic impression. Under the tutelage of Academy instructor, Kyle Farmer, fashion design students Alice Spies, Rachel Rondell, Eric Holbreich, Lisa Relth, Amanda Kamm and Jonathan Baker gave us out-of-the-condom-box looks that didn't look like condoms - but avant garde pieces of art worthy of a safe sex couture runway.

Baker's ballooning piece of proportion play made camera phones flash with curiosity, while Relth's piece actual made condoms look romantic with soft detailing and feminine charm. The silver robot pieces Kamm, Spies and Rondell stomped the runway with the sci-fi whimsy David Bowie and Holbreich's red piece - well - it had people asking, "Was that really made from condoms?"

Safe sex has never looked so fabulous.

P.S. Yes, I am an instructor at the Academy of Art - no, I do not have a bias. =)