Expanding Career Options

"It may seem like a narcissistic kind of activity, but I can see how models like to do this," said John Axelrod '88, an Adams House resident who Hoppe asked to model for the show. "It's like performing, only you get to be center-stage the whole time."

Ron Hoffman, the general manager of Saks' Boston store, was impressed by the students in the show. "The non-professional models looked sensational. I'd hire any of them right away," he said.

But the students had a lot of help from Saks. "Most people don't know what to wear to make them look good; the students wanted to pick their own clothing, but we told them what to wear," said Steve Cavalieri of Saks, who worked backstage at the show.

In fact, students didn't know what they would be doing on the runway until shortly before the opening curtain, said Ritchie C. Banker '86, one of the models and a resident of Eliot House.

Fortunately, "the people from Saks were really sympathetic and cute," Banker said, noting that she made a few new friends in the boisterous atmosphere backstage.

Of the Harvard students in the show, only Candace Bond '87, who transferred from Wellesley this year, had performed in a fashion show before.

But Bond was not selected because of her experience. Like the rest of the models, she had met Hoppe in a social setting and he mentioned his idea of a fashion show to her.

"I was introduced to Sebastian a month ago at The Juke Box club in Boston," Bond said. "I thought [the show] would be a great idea because it linked the campus as a whole."

Functional Wear

The student models showed off a line of Saks business wear and accessories that the sponsors said are important for the job interview season already underway. Hoppe said he chose the clothing displayed in the show with interviews in mind.

Fashion commentators in the press section said there was a noticable difference between the professionals and the students. According to one, the students were "much stiffer" and had "very little rapport with the audience."

While friends in the audience ooh-ed and aah-ed at their cohorts in the spotlight, they reserved their loudest applause for the adept posing of the professionals.

"The problem is they do not know how to present a line, to take on the character of the clothing they wear," said Haig Bagerdjian, a third year Harvard Law student.

Others were less discriminating. "For students it was a very good fashion show," said Karin Ohana, a Parisian student who currently works for the Karl Lagerfeld Co.