Clad in checkered robes, pink heels and low-cut black dresses, Wharton students proved they're not just about the bottom line yesterday at the first-ever "Fashionably Finding a Cure" fundraiser.
The event, sponsored by Wharton's Culture Club, featured Wharton MBA students and professors modeling designer fashions to raise money for Living Beyond Breast Cancer, a support organization for men and women with breast cancer, in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The fashion show sought a "mix of fashion and social consciousness," said Culture Club President LaKisha Pate, a second-year Wharton MBA student.
At the event, which showcased Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C. designers, local breast cancer survivor Debra Wood spoke of her struggle with the disease at the age of 34.
After discovering a five-centimeter lump in her left breast, Wood underwent surgery and nine months of treatment and chemotherapy.
"They took my hair and my strength," Wood said, "but not my faith.
Wood, now the mother of a 2-year-old boy, emphasized the importance of breast self-exams.
"There is definitely a new face to cancer, and don't think it can't happen to you," Wood said.
Although the topic was serious, the mood was celebratory.
"What the organization is trying to do is celebrate life, and that's what the fashion show did in many ways," first-year Wharton MBA student Oliver Chen said. "I thought it was a good outlet to really see the creative spirit that Wharton has to offer."
The fundraiser also featured the self-described "folky, international girl-power" music of singer and Wharton MBA candidate Melanie Rubinsohn, and an after-party at Suede Lounge in Old City.
"This is a very important cause that affects Wharton students, [other Penn] students and just the broader Philadelphia community," Pate said. "We know that social responsibility is important as far as being a future business leader."
Over 200 tickets were sold at $15 a piece.
"The entree fee was a little higher than normal, but I definitely supported it because it was for a wonderful cause," first-year Wharton MBA student William Messer said. "It's something I think we should see more of on campus."
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