We came up with the idea to create a charity fashion show here at Torquay Girls a couple of weeks after the 2019 Met Gala.

The Met Gala is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City and marks the grand opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit. Its purpose is to celebrate the fashion industry; its past, present and future, and it is well known as “fashion’s biggest night out”; being responsible for multiple daring and iconic looks, conceptualised, created and modelled by a team of designers and their celebrity. Each year has a new theme, focused on a different aspect of the industry.

We noticed how popular it was with all the girls here, who spent the next day pouring over this year’s looks admiring all the pieces. We saw the concept of hosting a mini met gala at school as a great opportunity to appreciate style and art but also to raise awareness about the importance of combatting the “fast fashion” industry, which is one of the largest polluter to the planet. We found it important that in such a crucial time for Global Warming, in which our generation was quite significantly involved, that we offered support for the cause. By creating the theme “The Green Carpet”, we hoped to achieve this goal.

We proposed the Met Gala as a competition; giving all the years the chance to create a look that encompassed the idea of “green fashion” in a way that was creative and eye catching. We were really surprised and happy to have had up to 40 applicants across the year groups and houses walk the carpet for a supportive audience that filled the old hall.

The looks were all so different and so amazing, ranging from plastic bag ball gowns to reworked outfits from charity shop items. We were lucky to have three great judges; Mrs Harrington, Mrs Cole and Mrs Beard to help decide the most impressive pieces. We were also lucky to have two amazing presenters, Head and Deputy Head Girl Alice McNaughton and Sophie Chamberlain to introduce each look and keep the atmosphere fun and interesting. It was also nice to see some of the teaching staff walking the runway and the head girl team wearing beautiful handmade gowns made by none other than Mrs Omanyo, founder and director of Imprezza Academy.

Along with the main attraction of the catwalk, we were also able to offer a selection of blue zone snacks and drinks supplied by the heads of houses. The audience also had a chance to take a picture in our eco themed photo booth.

At the close of the event, which took place on the lunchtime of 20^th June, we were left with three winners, Poppy Webb, Candela Ferrer and Grace Turner and Mia Choules. They all stood out to the judges not only in the way their outfits looked, but also in the imagination behind them and their enthusiasm in displaying them to the audience. Special mention also goes to Grace White, Matilda Manley and Polly Dyke, whose pieces were exceptional also.

We are happy to have raised through ticket and refreshment sales a good amount of money, which will go to Point Blue Conservation Science, a California, based, non-profit organisation that aims to conserve birds, other wildlife and ecosystems across global coastlines through science, partnerships and outreach.​

We’d just like to thank everyone who helped contribute to the event, the contestants, the audience, the Met Gala Team composed of the heads of houses and other students who without we would not have been able to create such an enjoyable event. We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did!