While the prom is still a few months away, prom season is in full swing as students from Madison Central have started getting fitted for tuxedos and dresses in preparation for a prom themed fashion show on Friday. Twenty-two boys and 44 girls will find themselves walking down a runway for the Prom Fashion Show.
Local businesses Madison Avenue and Cuff to Collar will be providing the formal wear for the students. A special guest will also be in attendance, with some wearing fashion of his own design. Proceeds from the event which will be held at the Madison Central auditorium at 7 p.m. on Friday will go to Project Graduation – a lock-in initiative held on the night of graduation to keep outgoing high school seniors away from drugs and alcohol. The fashion show will be open to the public, tickets are $5 a piece for anyone under 18 and $10 for any adults.
“Some of the girls will walk out with guys, some of them will walk out single. They’ll be showcasing all the different lines at Madison Avenue. The special guest on Friday night will be Jonathan Kayne,” said Tricia Mitchell, prom fashion coordinator and secretary of Project Grad.
Kayne was a contestant on long running fashion show “Project Runway.” The Tennessee born designer has made evening wear for the likes of Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and Jennifer Lopez. The lead-up to the fashion show has been an exciting one for the students.
“The kids are having fun with it. It’s really a fundraiser for Project Grad for us to raise money for the kids at the end of the school year,” Mitchell said.
Project Graduation was started in 1982 by the Kentucky State Police. The lock-in will raffle off a series of prizes for the students that participate. While it is normally held at Madison Central, this year’s event will be held at EKU’s student recreation center. It goes from midnight to 7 a.m.
While the fashion show is arguably the biggest fundraiser for Project Graduation, it is far from the only one. Jennifer Goins – 2022 president of Project Graduation – oversees all fundraising for the event. So far there have been 10 fundraisers for the event this school year.
“We’ve sold yard signs, we have done t-shirts, we have done a vendor fair at Christmas this year which was a huge success. We’ve done some smaller fundraisers too. So far we have raised about $30,000. We’ve worked very hard and had a lot of support from a lot of local businesses and the parents,” Goins said.
According to Goins, the participants of the show are very excited this year. She believes this is in part due to the feeling of a return to normalcy following the pandemic. Even the guys are enthusiastic.
“The guys have seemed really excited about it this year,” added Mitchell. “The guys that have signed up for it are super excited. They all got fitted on time.”
Madison Olivet is the co-owner of Madison Avenue Prom, Pageant, and Casual, which she opened at 17-years-old alongside her mother Melanie Greene. She spoke about the store’s role in the Prom Fashion Show and her own history in like-minded events.
“I had done pageants for a really long time. A lot of the crowns and sashes in the store are mine, my mom, or my sister’s. We’re a big pageant family,” Olivet said. “This is something I’ve always been passionate about. I’ve been doing this a long time… I graduated early, so I didn’t get to do one of these shows, but it’s fun helping everybody else.”
Olivet said Madison Avenue works closely with the aforementioned Kayne. The first show that takes place earlier in the day just for the students at Madison Central will see the girls wear a wide selection of dresses in the store. While the night show open to the public will see them wear designs from Kayne, who will also be MC-ing the event.
As for some of the girls who will be walking down the runway, they carry an excitement for the Prom Fashion Show that comes from several different places.
“Today we’re trying on dresses getting fitted for the Prom Fashion Show and this is just something that we’ve been a part of and gone and watched since our freshman year. It’s super fun to be a part of it as seniors,” said Kylie Goins. “It’s exciting just to get to do it because we were unsure if it would even be a possibility because of COVID. But it’s just one more thing that’s going back to normal.”
“It’s great that it’s diverse, it’s not just your average people that get to do it. We get a really good selection of all the seniors in the school – different sizes, different backgrounds and everything. It’s really diverse and it involves everyone,” said Hannah Mitchell.
