When the enormous white event tent rises up on the Torrance Memorial Medical Center campus, South Bay residents know the holiday season has truly begun. In addition to concerts, a live auction, and formal gala, a key highlight of the hospital’s annual Holiday Festival is the Fashion Show and luncheon.

The Las Amigas volunteer organization founded and still organizes the Holiday Festival fundraiser which celebrates it’s 41 anniversary this year. In its beginnings, the fashion show was a smaller and more informal event with models from local clubs, city council, and fire department. The first fashion show was held in 1995 with about 150 guests. Today, it draws more than 600.

This year’s show will feature designs from New York-based Elie Tahari, whose has dressed actresses including Brooke Shields and Susan Sarandon. Los Angeles-based designer Kevan Hall, who creates luxury clothing for men and women at his atelier in West Hollywood, will show a collection of formal gowns. This year, the runway show will be set to the music of Latin Jazz creating a lively atmosphere of fun and sophistication. Rolling Hills Flower Mart will deck the tent with arrangements and centerpieces. As ever, the backdrop will be the professionally decorated holiday trees donated to the hospital for auction.

“When you arrive, the trees, the flowers, the music, the exhibitors and the way the venue is designed are all stunning,” says Joy Theodora, Fashion Show co-chair. “The hospital is right behind you and it’s a time to come together and appreciate that you have each other and you have your health.”

Theodora has been on the event’s planning committee since 2017. She and other organizers, including co-chairs Allison Mayer, Roxanne Mirhashemi, and Jessica Tsai, DDS, as well as Torrance Memorial Foundation Senior Director of Development and Principal Gifts Judith Gassner, collaborate throughout the year to arrange a gathering celebrating community, glamour, fashion, philanthropy and friendship.

“It’s a passport to a very elegant all-day event. We try to dazzle the people who come – women, mainly, who are in their 30s and 40s to late their 80s. We work hard to present a show with great clothes for women of all ages. There is something on the runway for everyone,” says Gassner.

Co-chair Allison Mayer has filled four tables this year with friends, colleagues, neighbors and family – including her 85-year-old mother-in-law, who says it’s her favorite thing about the holidays.

“It’s magical. You walk in and all of a sudden, you’re in a winter wonderland. We like to pretend it’s a beautiful snowy winter for a little while inside that tent,” says Mayer. “Everyone is ready to celebrate. They dress in their holiday best and are excited to see their friends.”

Attendees enjoy a three-course lunch and boutique shopping staged around the festival’s elaborately decorated trees. After lunch, the fashion show begins, featuring models of all ages.

“New attendees are often surprised to learn the models are not all human. We have canine models from the Torrance Memorial Pet Visitation Program wearing hats and sweaters. It’s adorable,” says Gassner.

Theodora says attendees make a tradition of coordinating their clothing, choosing a color theme for their tables, and hiring makeup artists and hairdressers to style them for the show. Photos of the event have even caught the attention of national event tent company, which used them for promotional materials.

“It’s become a ritual. I have such great memories from past fashion shows,” Theodora says. “It’s a day to spend together as women. We celebrate each other and raise money for the hospital. It’s the best start to the holiday season.”

The style of the event comes not just from the venue and the fashion, but its guests, as well. “The end of the fashion show is always the formal gowns, and that reminds me of being a little girl wanting to be a princess,” Theodora says. “Dreams create glamour. Setting goals and accomplishing them creates glamour. Loving yourself creates glamour. All of those feelings come together when you walk in that tent. Glamour starts from within.”

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Melissa Bean Sterzick is a professional freelance writer, editor and proofreader. Melissa has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and has worked for publications including The Deseret News and The Dallas Morning News. She loves the beach, gardening, yoga, and tennis. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, two daughters, and cat.