With dresses made of magazines and designs featuring henna tattoos and body paint, the Keep It Wild fashion show put on by Andover Youth Services has lived up to its name for more than a decade.
"You never know what's going to come out on the runway next," said Suzie Allen, AYS program coordinator.
This year, the show is making another powerful statement: standing up to cancer.
Along with teen-designed couture, Keep It Wild models will hit the runway wearing an array of hats and headpieces.
Each of the show's designers will include at least one headpiece in their line, said Allen, all in support of 18-year-old Wendy Pollack, a 2009 Andover High School grad who was diagnosed in March 2006 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.
Pollack will design her own line of hats for the show, raising money for the Ellison 18 ward at Massachusetts General Hospital where she has been treated. Ellison 18 is a pediatric unit that treats patients up to the age of 19 with all varieties of ailments.
After losing her hair from cancer treatments, Pollack wore hats constantly last summer, she said. Her headwear was a source of comfort as well as expression - she would add touches to each hat to make them her own.
"Losing my hair was a reality check. I said 'OK, wow, this is real and actually happening'," said Pollack. "All I did was wear hats. I used to hide under them, I was embarrassed. (Losing your hair) is such a big thing for a girl ... Hats were such an important thing to me last summer. "
Sponsors who donate to Pollack's project will have a hat designed especially for them, and a donation made to the Ellison 18 ward in their name. For Jordan's Furniture, Pollack designed a hat adorned with jelly beans.
Recently, several laptop computers that were available for Ellison 18 patients were stolen from Mass General, said Pollack.
As she was in a sterile isolation unit for 30 days after a stem-cell transplant, Pollack began thinking of ways she could raise money to replace the laptops.
"I know sitting in that (isolation) room, thank God I had my own computer because I would have gone crazy. It keeps you in touch with friends and family, it's your connection to the outside world. It keeps you occupied, having something to pass the time," said Pollock.
The best part about designing her hat line for Keep It Wild has been meeting Allen, the AYS staff and making new friends, said Pollack.
"Building relationship and being with them distracts me from everything that's going on, and keeps my mind off it," said Pollack, who will defer her acceptance to Suffolk University to undergo a second stem-cell transplant in August, this time with cells donated from her sister.
Besides the fabulous and funky outfits and hats featured at Keep It Wild next week, something even wilder will happen on the runway during intermission.
Several AYS staffers and teens will cut their hair, live, on stage, to donate to a nonprofit that makes wigs for cancer patients.
"We're going to encourage anyone from the audience to jump up on the runway (to have their hair cut)," said Allen, who has volunteered for a trim along with AYS colleague Afton Cuomo.
The Keep It Wild Fashion Show will be June 25 at the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Chandler Road in West Andover, a change from the previous venue of Old Town Hall. The Greek church will allow for a larger audience and more parking. AYS is hoping to sell 100 more tickets than last year, said Allen.
Attendees are invited to mingle at the church's outdoor courtyard for an hour before the show. There will be music, food, coffee and raffles to raise money for Ellison 18, said Allen.
The runway show will feature fashions by close to 30 different designers, including Andover High and middle school students, AYS alumni and students from the Greater Lawrence Technical High School fashion program.
The only rule for Keep It Wild is that the teens must have had a hand in personalizing each outfit, said Allen. Some start from scratch, sewing each piece, and some use items from thrift stores, cutting them up and adding their own touches.
This year, one teen has a line of fashions she's crocheted entirely herself. Dresses made from magazines, soda bottles and candy wrappers also will hit the runway.
"The kids come together to run the show, and each year they bring their own personalities. We try and go with that to give each show a different feel," said Allen. "When we started Keep It Wild, it was a way to offer programs to an under-programmed population at the high school. It's really become a home for that creative outlet. It's for all kids. You don't have to sew, just look at the world through a 'Keep It Wild' lens."
Giovanni Capato, store manager at Izzy's boutique in Andover, has helped many of the teens with their designs and will show some of his originals, said Allen.
AHS grad Tim Dunning will serve as disc jockey and Indra Salon of Andover will do hair and makeup for all the models at Keep It Wild.
Andover Youth Services Keep It Wild fashion show
June 25
7:30 p.m. reception with food and raffles, show starts at 8:30 p.m.
Saints Constantine and Helen Greek church, 71 Chandler Road
$10 admission; tickets available at the door or in advance at the AYS house at 37-39 Pearson St. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting June 22
For more information, visit www.andoveryouthservices.com or call 978-623-8241
To sponsor a hat designed by Wendy Pollack ($50 minimum donation, to benefit Ellison 18 ward at Mass General), e-mail her by tomorrow, June 19 at wendyjpollack@yahoo.com.
Registration open for AYS summer programs
Andover Youth Services is now accepting registrations for their "Gold Rush" summer programs. Having moved into their new house on Pearson Street, AYS is offering a bevy of new and different programming this summer. There will be 68 different trips and clinics, said Suzie Allen, program coordinator, with a focus on community service, outdoor activities and "something for everyone."
In the "Old School Intramurals" program, parents drop their children off at the Pearson Street house, and they are given bicycles to ride to intramural sites all over town, from basketball to whiffleball.
"If gym class is your favorite class, then this is the thing for you," said Allen.
Mail-in registration must be postmarked by June 17; walk-in registration starts June 22 and goes all summer. For more information, visit www.andoveryouthservices.com or call 978-623-8241.
