Last month, the wonderful Alameda open air theatre again sprang to life in all its beauty and splendour, hosting the so popular Bossom Buddies fashion show. This year’s show was one for history, as Gibraltar born fashion supremo John Galliano agreed to show nine outfits from his autumn Paris collection 2008. But just how much work goes into organising and staging a show such as this? Organiser Sonia Golt says ‘’It took me a good part of a year to just get in contact with John!‘’ but with a great amount of perseverance she managed to finally get the privileged “yes” answer from the master of fashion himself and, with the ball rolling, Sonia set about getting all the different teams and individuals into place — each with their own unique tasks to perform, and without who the show would not have been possible. The stars of the show are the models, the performers, the presenters — all in the public eye and all appreciated by the audience — the ladies, all breast cancer survivors, such a brave and optimistic group, it is their special night. But take a glimpse behind all this, and there are other stars in each show, stars that only shine in the background and who nobody sees. We are about to take a look at the team on this night, but every quality show you attend has a similar team, working away behind the scenes without a piece of the glory. The hairdressing team, for example, which is in charge of styling and advising on the best hairstyles for each model. On this occasion Christine Figueras is head of the team, and is just one of the people responsible for making the models look their best. Christine has been in charge of this task since the very first show, staged three years ago. This year Christine brought on board Anna from Anna’s Hairdressers to look after the Galliano models. Following the hair styling the models’ “new look” is enhanced by the make-up team, and Claudia’s Crew was out in full force this year, working very hard. Regular team members Yolanda Bautista and Cheryl Sant both said they love working with the ladies, it is such a rewarding and special event. Naomi Medici and Alison Pryor, new additions to the team, were placed in charge of the Galliano models, and worked with Delli and Sam (John’s Paris team) which was a great privilege and an amazing experience. Naomi says “It was all quite stressful, everything had to be 100% perfect, with John himself (via phone) supervising everything. But the satisfaction was great, when the master himself wished everyone good luck via phone, which made all our hard work worthwhile in the end.” All styled and made up the models are then handed over to wardrobe, here they are fitted with their outfits. Not an easy task and for this show it was Edna from Hearts Boutique who had to find the perfect style for each model, the perfect colour to suit each one, and then hope she has the correct sizes too. Edna has volunteered each year to enable the ladies to parade in all their splendour. Vibrant colours, costly, and some of the finest fabrics, are what she entrusts to the ladies on the night. But Sonia ensured the ladies would cope with all stresses and carry each outfit perfectly, through all her long weeks of coaching prior to the show. Which takes us away from the grooming side, and into the organisation of these shows. Here we find people who are all involved in the show’s smooth running, such as Jackie Dalli. Jackie organises back stage duties, which are very hectic at best, but she always eventually gets everyone into their places and positions in time. She works during the show, but also in the run up to the show, perfecting everyone’s timings for styling, and so forth. And even the audience at such events needs organising. Kirsteen and Pie Crawford together with Audrey Alecio and Genevieve, worked as ushers for the various seating areas within the theatre. Pie who was in charge of the VIP section, said nervously before the show ‘’I don’t have some people’s names, only the company name, how will I know who they are!‘’ We won’t ever know how exactly she did know but we did not see anyone sitting on anyone’s lap, so she obviously managed the situation very well. While the audience is seating, the changing rooms are abuzz. For this show Norma and Nina were Wardrobe Mistresses who calmly and patiently helped the ladies dress. Of course we must not forget the main person behind it all, Sonia Golt, without whom none of this would happen. It takes time and energy to ensure each show is different and always full of surprises — people are already looking forward to next year’s show, and wondering what is up Sonia’s sleeve for then.

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