*Press release*
For
the first time in Australian fashion history, running commentary via
Audio Description for people who are vision impaired will be part of
five
Perth Fashion Festival (PFF) shows this year. New methods
of communication have changed the way Australians create, access and
participate in arts and culture and Audio Description is one of these
initiatives.
Audio
Description refers to an additional narration track on visual media
(including television, film, dance, opera and visual art) for consumers
who are blind or vision impaired. It
consists of a narrator speaking throughout the presentation, scribing
what's happening on the stage during natural pauses in dialogue.
Headphones for Audio Description will be available at
Morrison, Myer Fashion Luncheon, Designer Capsule #3, Restyle on the Runway, and the exclusive VIP closing event,
Giving Back is the New Black, making the Festival a revolutionary step for the fashion industry.
At
Re-style on the Runway on Thursday 20 September, sisters Erin and
Claire McGlew will strut their stuff down the runway with the help of
their Guide Dogs, Ronnie and Swanee. The women will be styled in hair
and make-up like all the other models and their
dogs will be groomed to look their best.
“We’re
so excited to be able to take part in Perth Fashion Festival, we’re
proud to be a part of this big step forward for West Australians who are
blind or vision
impaired and we can’t wait to show off our style and our dogs on the
Restyle runway,”
said Erin McGlew.
This defining moment in fashion, a first in the southern hemisphere, will help to advance
Guide Dogs WA’s primary mission to build confidence, promote
wellness and help people who are vision impaired connect with the wider
Western Australian community.
Perth Fashion Festival
is dedicated to providing unique, imaginative programming
initiatives for the Western Australia community, and this year the
Festival will engage people who are vision impaired and give them the
opportunity to experience fashion on a more interactive level.
PFF shares a working partnership with the
Association for the Blind WA – Guide Dogs WA and will help raise awareness of Guide Dog access rights and mobility services for people who are vision impaired.
"Association
for the Blind WA - Guide Dogs WA is delighted to be a part of this
year's Perth Fashion Festival in a way that will engage members of the
community who have been previously
unable to participate in the Festival. Cultural diversity is helping
fuel innovation by bringing different insights to traditional practices,
and Perth Fashion Festival 2012 is embracing these opportunities by
offering the Audio Description feature at several
of the events this year," said Dr Margaret Crowley, CEO, Association
for the Blind WA.
"One
of the key elements for me creating the Perth Fashion Festival was to
make fashion accessible to all, and so it is my absolute pleasure to be
able to join forces with Guide Dogs
WA this year to increase community accessibility even further. Fashion
is just as much about how an individual feels in the clothes they are
wearing, as well as how they look. So I am delighted to be able to
share this and open
the Festival to an even wider audience," confirms Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan, Perth Fashion Festival Creative Director.
