Ramp It Up–a fashion show to benefit the OIWC
Imagine seeing your company’s CEO, president or another business leader walking the runway in faux fur, red lipstick, feather boa, high heels and ladies snowsports apparel. This hilarious dream came true at SIA 2011 at the OIWC’s Ramp It Up fashion show.
“The Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC) is a membership community of professionals in the outdoor industries united to provide power, influence, and opportunity for women in outdoor-related businesses and to generate champions to inspire other women.”
Because let’s face it – it isn’t easy to be a girl in a boy’s world. We talk about progress and how far we’ve come but the vast majority of executives in the outdoor and snow industry are men.
It’s not much better in Congress.
According to Women’s Campaign Forum President Siobhan "Sam" Bennett, "We’re ranked 90th in the world in the number of women in elected office. We trail behind Cuba and Afghanistan," she said, citing data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the percentage of women in national parliaments. (statistic from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/11/03/131050732/number-of-women-in-congress-set-to-drop-ending-30-year-trend)
That’s why the OIWC made men walk the runway in drag – to help bring professional, passionate women together to learn about advancing careers. I was so excited to see Mountain Hardwear’s VP of Global Marketing, Joe Flannery, walk. He was great, as were all the other men who came out. Here are some shots:
Emcee Mark Cohen from The North Face.
This event made me think about how many amazing female role models I have in my life. Thanks to all the ladies who have shown me how to be assertive, strong, and have a voice and to the OIWC for putting on this entertaining event.
