With a measuring tape swung around her neck, Lydia Manget sits across from a rack of clothes ready for a fashion show that sold out two weeks ago.
Manget is the owner of Felicia’s Collection, the boutique providing clothing for the show sponsored by the Canadian Federation of University Women Scarborough.
The proceeds of the show will go to support the Scarborough Women’s Centre and to Centennial College Student Awards. A raffle will also be held, with its proceeds going to the Stephen Lewis Foundation which funds HIV/AIDS related projects in Africa.
When the CFUW Scarborough first began developing an award fund in 1976, the aim was to help young women in Scarborough get a university education, said club member Ann Rutherford.
“We were targeting gals who had not necessarily had the highest marks in school, but they were very close to the top and they showed financial need,” Rutherford said.
Most of the projects sponsored by the CFUW emphasize education, Manget said.
They also donate money to University of Toronto Scarborough, which matches their donation and gives out scholarships in their name, she said.
“Women who had the privilege of being educated, they want to give back to help other people may not have been given the funding,” Manget said.
Manget has had the boutique in Highland Creek Village for the past 17 years. She said she purchases the clothing from agents abroad six months in advance. She has already ordered clothes for the fall.
This will be the fifth show she organizes for the CFUW Scarborough. Models in the show will be 20 to 70-years-old and of all backgrounds and sizes, Manget said.
“It’s a lot of fun once everyone one is on the runway,” she said.
The CFUW Scarborough has 60 members, around half of them will be helping out in the fashion show on April 12, she said.