Last week I caught up with the lovely Sophie Briand, executive director of P[h]assion. P[h]assion is a non-profit organization which has been successfully promoting HIV/AIDS awareness to McGill students and the Montreal community and has fundraised over $150,000 for various AIDS foundations over the last fifteen years. I was eager and intrigued to find out about Sophie’s role in P[h]assion, as well as the exciting events they have in store for us during the coming months…
Connecticut-raised Sophie will be graduating in the Spring with a BA in Commerce (majoring in Marketing, concentration in Organizational Behaviour and a minor in Hispanic Studies). But she is certainly not wasting a moment of her last semester, giving it her all and dedicating crazily impressive amounts of time to P[h]assion, planning for their annual fundraising fashion show – whilst not forgetting to study!
Connie Coles-Garrad for Her Campus McGill (HC McGill): P[h]assion sounds like such a great organization to be a part of, how did you get involved and what does your role consist of?
Sophie Briand (SB): I got involved in my second year at McGill, three years ago, I was a clothing coordinator at that time. In high school, I did a lot of volunteering, and really liked doing that, but then I came here and found that I had no time to physically go out and volunteer. So, P[h]assion really appealed to me as I’ve always liked fashion itself, and I loved the charity aspect of it as well… I enjoyed it that first year, so I stuck with it and the following year I became the production director, where I was in charge of booking the venue for the show etc. This role required me to be proactive and do lots of long-term planning.
But now, I’m the executive director – which sounds really fancy (to which I reply it is isn’t it?!-  Sophie laughs modestly). I basically oversee everything, every aspect, for example, clothing; production; sponsorship; promotion; finance. It’s interesting, because it’s been a big learning curve for Kurt (the other exec who I work with) and I, we’ve learnt so much as we’ve progressed through the process together.
HC McGill: so the majority of the year is spent planning for your annual fashion show, but where do the funds from this eagerly anticipated event go?
SB: We are a humanitarian organization, so every year we give the funds to an organization in Montreal. This year we decided to partner with ACCM – AIDS Community Care Montreal – who helps to support those living with HIV/AIDS and/or Hepatitis C and fights to break the stigma around that. They’re just a really incredible organization.
HC McGill: ACCM’s work seems truly inspiring. But why ACCM? Do you choose a different organization each year?
SB: We loved our last organization, who we had been partnered with for the last 7 years, but we decided to move away this year and support someone else. We are happy with our decision to support an organization who caters to Montreal’s English speaking community as well – especially since we’re an English speaking school. We already have such a great relationship with them, they’ve invited us to meet and greets with board members and openings of art galleries, they’ve been so kind and inviting, we just really want to make this show a real success, for them.
HC McGill: So, does this year’s show have a theme?
SB: It’s hard to do a theme for the show itself, because we take clothes from local designers – which are all very different; however, we have just picked our models, which is really exciting, and we will do a photoshoot and video with them. Our theme for the shoot revolves around black lights, lots of shadows and some neon lights with the underlying message of don’t hide in the dark; talk about the stigma and be open about it because the more we know, the better.
HC McGill: That’s such a great message and one I completely agree with, it’s so much better to talk about these issues and not to give in to the stigma that surrounds us daily. How can people support the cause and get involved if they want to?
SB: Definitely buy a ticket and come to the show! We don’t normally need volunteers because we have such a big committee, but if people are interested in getting involved with P[h]assion, definitely come to the show to see what it’s like. We normally have applications that come out at the end of April and September if you want to be on the committee.
HC McGill: Do you think your work with P[h]assion will have an impact of your future path? Are you planning on pursuing a career related to your work you’ve done with the organization?
SB: I’m really happy because I have already secured a job for when I graduate, but I do really love fashion; however, I don’t know if I’d ever necessarily want to work in the industry. I actually really enjoy event planning – whether or not I’ll pursue it as a full career, I don’t know – but maybe something as a side project. I’m always thinking, but who knows… I’m also very involved with visual arts, and when I move back to New York I want to get involved in the art scene.
HC McGill: Ok, so a final, fun, fashion related question: fave designers, fave trends and your fashion faux-pas…
SB: There are a few trends that I like to incorporate into my style but to be honest I’m not too big on trends. However, designers, yes!….I really like Marchesa and Elie Saab, I think their work is really beautiful– it’s like art! I also like Raf Simons, the man who just left Dior and now has a collection with Calvin Klein. Faux-pas? Hmmm, drop-crotch pants are a no from me, a little bit of drop is ok, but not down to your knees, come on!
P[h]assion’s annual fashion show will be held on March 23rd…. So, save the date, support an amazing Montreal-based organization and join the fight in breaking the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS.
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Images obtained from: