It was an evening of safari and jungle-style at Dusk as the nightclub venue was turned into a tropical rainforest for “Go Wild for Fashion” – Ocean Village’s first ever charity fashion show to raise funds for the Alameda Wildlife Park.
The Alameda Wildlife Park of Gibraltar care for exotic animals confiscated by customs and unwanted pets – giving them a much-needed home – and also work to raise awareness around important endangered species by taking part in captive breeding programmes which help support species in the wild.
The Wildlife Park began life in 1994 as a collection of parrots, tortoises and monkeys confiscated from illegal traders passing through Gibraltar. Over the years, the park has grown in size and eventually opened to the public, with the funds generated from ticket sales going towards renovations and care for the animals. A lot of this work is carried out by dedicated volunteers with a passion for wildlife and the park has also become an important educational zone for local school children to learn about animals and conservation issues.
Over £1,600 was raised during the evening for the Alameda Wildlife Park, with funds going specifically towards the Alameda Overground Project, a structure of tunnels and tree-top walkways which will enrich the lives of a specific set of animals at the park (lemurs, cotton-top tamarins, common marmosets and long-tailed macaques) and create a much more exciting and immersive visitor experience. For more information: www.awcp.gi/projects
The evening of fashion showcased three different styles of clothing from local retailer Marble Arc, with fantastic looks created for Festival/Party Wear, Casual Wear and Formal Attire. Mayfair on Main created some truly wild hair and make up creations for the Future Agency models, who were directed by Raygan Martinez from RA Productions. Local band PRNCPL wowed the crowd with their musical prowess, as staff handed out some delicious vegan and vegetarian canapes from a selection of restaurants at Ocean Village: wagamama, Las Iguanas and Café Fresco.
The Youth Centre of Gibraltar presented a collection of Upcycled Fashion with items selected from Clubhouse charity shop transformed by students with jewellery created from recycled objects. For more information on the “Rags to Riches” campaign, find them on Facebook at Youth.gi
The event ended with grand prize raffle with over 15 prizes kindly donated from local companies such as stunning rose gold earrings from Swarovski, several bottles of bubbles from Stagnetto, a £75 voucher from Little Bay Indian Restaurant, a night on Sunborn Hotel Gibraltar for 2 people, tickets for Gibraltar Calling, and many more!
Emilia Hazell-Smith, Marketing and Events Executive for Ocean Village said: “We were beyond excited to hold this fashion show to raise funds and awareness for the Alameda Wildlife Park. It’s thanks to our main sponsors, Capurro Motors (who used the exciting opportunity to showcase their first ever all-electric SUV, the Jaguar I-Pace) and Eroski Gibraltar, all of our volunteers, additional sponsors and helpers, that we were able to put on a fantastic show were able to raise significant funds for the Alameda Wildlife Park.”
Jessica Leaper from the Alameda Wildlife Park said: This event was something completely different for the AWCP to be involved in, but it was a great success! It was also an amazing opportunity for us to introduce the sustainable fashion concept in Gibraltar. The Youth Group did fantastic job upcycling clothes from the Clubhouse charity shop. The money raised from this event will make an important contribution to our Overground Project at the park.