 "Photo: Sarah Langdon/The Daily Gamecock")
Hundreds of excited students attended Project Condom Wednesday night as the line stretched from the Russell House ballroom well before the show started.
The fashion show, in which clothes were made from condoms, was held by Sexual Health Awareness and Rape Education and Development for Sexual Health and Violence Prevention.
The event was designed to promote awareness and break social stigmas surrounding sexual practices. An abstinence garment was also featured.
"The models are really excited about it," Ashley Petitt, a third-year sociology student and S.H.A.R.E. chair of Project Condom said. "We're promoting healthy decisions, condom usage or abstinence."
One Condoms donated 1,000 condoms for each of the ten garments.
Jared Fennelly, Marketing Manager of One Condoms, acted as a judge for Project Condom.
Garments were made by various student organizations, including Voices For Planned Parenthood and Pastafarians.
"It was an amazing event," Fennelly said. "These people are going to be very successful. The University of South Carolina is taking lead and other universities will follow suit."
One Condoms is involved with 3,500 non-profit organizations, including AIDS Action.
Interspersed between garments were commercials relaying sexual health statistics and promoting abstinence.
Project Condom was well received, both as entertainment and information.
"I thought it was an interesting way to combine both fashion and awareness," said Erin Nicholson, a second-year fashion-merchandising student.
Andy Clifton graduated in December and came to see Project Condom, his first non-sporting event at USC.
"I wanted to see how creative people were," he said.
Third-year history student Aretha Cook attended Project Condom to experience the uniqueness of the event.
"I wanted to see what they could do with condoms," she said. "It helps brings out awareness for responsible use of protection."
SHVP Director Tricia Phaup said the students put a lot of work into the event.
"We're really proud of the hard work they put into it," she said. "They did a jam-up job."
Phi Sigma Pi's "Stylishly Biased" won first place, followed by the BGLSA's "Evil Woman Threads" in second and Voices for Planned Parenthood tied with the Feminist Majority Alliance League.
MAC cosmetics provided makeup for Project Condom.
"On behalf of One Condoms, I would just like to say you all did great," Fennelly said.
Be the first to comment on this article!