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Designer dresses draw 300

Fashion show during rush avoids men, alcohol

Models showcase dresses during the final walk at the No Booze, No Boys Fashion Show. “For every event at UNC, every girl should be wearing a different, fabulous dress,” Rent the Runway co-founder Jenn Hyman said. Women were able rent dresses featured in the show.
Models showcase dresses during the final walk at the No Booze, No Boys Fashion Show. “For every event at UNC, every girl should be wearing a different, fabulous dress,” Rent the Runway co-founder Jenn Hyman said. Women were able rent dresses featured in the show.

More than 300 women turned out Tuesday to watch their friends model designer dresses on the catwalk.

Taylor Walters and Samantha Brody, two UNC seniors working for Rent the Runway, brought the New York company to Chapel Hill for the “Rent the Runway: No Booze, No Boys Fashion Show.”

“We wanted people here to have the opportunity to wear designer dresses,” Brody said.

The high-fashion dresses, with designers like Nicole Miller and Proenza Schouler, cost anywhere from $50 to $300 to rent, or 10 percent of their retail values.

Most of the dresses were modeled by UNC students, including many of the Panhellic sorority presidents.

“We came to UNC first out of all the schools in the country because we know you guys party a lot,” said Jenn Hyman, company CEO and co-founder.

“For every event at UNC, every girl should be wearing a different, fabulous dress.”

While the show was not a Panhellenic event, the sorority with the highest representation received a year-long 50-percent discount on orders.

The event featured cupcakes, a gelato bar and a trunk show, or portable lower-priced clothing sale.

“As a girl, this is almost the ultimate treat, getting to dress up and walk around in designer dresses with all our friends,” said junior Madeline Kirch, a model in the show who wore an Herve Leger frock.

The models were rented a suite to get ready for the show, Kirch said.

“It’s a great opportunity for all of us as girls for getting together to do something,” said junior Payton Kendsersky, another model.

Senior Elizabeth Wilson said she was glad the show happened during rush.

“As part of rush, we don’t use alcohol or associate with men,” she said, “so it’s nice to have something fun to do.”

The idea for the company began because co-founders Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss, who were sectionmates at Harvard Business School, never wanted to wear the same dresses to parties. The company officially opened in November 2009.

Fleiss said she hopes the event gave women ideas for what to wear to different rush events.

“It’s like Netflix for fashion.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.

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