Myles Sexton wearing Izzy Camilieri #DTWL2017

“Dare to Wear Love” is a benefit fashion show for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which raises funds for Aids causes and LGBTQ groups in Sub Saharan Africa.  The show is the brainchild of my dear friends Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell of Hoax Couture.  The couple travelled to Africa in the early 2000’s and witnessed the devastation caused by the pandemic, especially the thousands of children with no parents.  They conceptualized a fashion show wherein a number of clothing designers would each be invited to design and produce a garment out of six yards of African cloth.   Celebrities would then model the creations and the garments would be auctioned off after the show to raise more money for the foundation.  Brilliant.

The sixth and most recent Dare to Wear Love show took place at the Ritz Carlton on May 12th.  I was the lead hair designer for the third year and worldSALON was thrilled to have John Taccone and his team from Navigate Salon and Karen Wallington from Modlocks on the hair team.  Melissa Gibson, senior artist with MAC, lead her team of talented makeup artists and Farley Chatto of Farley Chatto Designs led the artistic team backstage and did an incredible job making sure models were dressed and ready to go on time.

One of the highlights this year was the Canadian launch of Greta Constantine’s FW2017 as the opening act!  The designers Kirk Pickersgill and Steven Wong were just back from showing their stunning collection in Paris and the air was electric having the wunderkids in the house.  We gave the models – #GretaGirls – very sleek hair, mostly off the face a la Kim Kardashian.  This worked nicely with the gorgeous, braided scarves, puff shoulder dresses and the crazy, sexy, monochromatic boot/tights.

Myles Sexton, National Makeup Ambassador for Lancome and Director of Nord Magazine modelled an incredible black pearl train and corset combo designed by Izzy Camilleri.  We decided on a #Manup-do  which I achieved with #WORLD #Up spray and then LaBiosthetique dry mist hairspray.  Myles mashed up the runway and proved to all why he is an Instagram star.

For Simone Denny, fellow Guyanese Canadian and singing sensation, we were inspired by Dianna Ross, so I gave her the biggest hair of her life; there were not one but two wigs of similar gold, chestnut tones piled one atop the other.   She brought the house down with her big hit “Superstar” and looked beautiful in her Farley Chatto mermaid dress.

This was the great finale to another wonderful show that brought $275,000.00 into the coffers of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.  I am very proud of my team and being a part of this important event is always a highlight of our year.  Congrats to all that participated and we hope to see you at #DTWL2018!

Check out my Instagram @brianatworld for some personal highlights and #DTWL for videos and links.

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