Case Study: SFU Fashion Week

Day #3: SFU Fashion Week Females and fashion were terms that practically go hand in hand. The practice of clothing consumption was typically regarded to being a female issue however in modern society, men in the fashion industry have become more widely accepted. Historically, men were known to be the producers to motivate women to consume (Blakewell, Mitchell, & Rothwell, 2006). At season three of SFU Fashion Week, while a majority of the guests attending were female, there were an ample amount of males attending and participating in the event as well. The runway show of SFU Fashion Week took place at the Segal Graduate School of Business at SFU’s Vancouver campus. SFU Fashion Week compares to Vancouver Fashion Week in ways that it parades …show more content…
As groups of guests arrived, they headed towards the registration desk that had three volunteers. They had noted that they were family members of a model volunteering for this event. Upon obtaining their tickets, they were then directed by an executive named Ashlin, and he guided the group towards a photo booth area where they could have their pictures taken. They accepted and were then guided by Ashlin again to take a seat in the waiting area until further notice. These guests continued to talk to each other about their days and momentarily stop when a phone break was needed. They quickly noticed that a catering table was being set up and patiently waited for the table to be completely set up. Groups of individuals gathered around the catering table, and the family participated in this social gathering as well. They grab a plate of food and quickly return to their earlier spot and return to their conversations. A late volunteer arrives and he was quickly assigned by Ashlin to stand by the catering table. As guests approached the catering table, the volunteer respectfully told the guests that the remaining food was reserved for the artists and entertainers, however he was ignored and the guests proceeded to plate the food. After moments of waiting, two girls approach the volunteers and ask when they event will finally start. They respond that it will take place shortly, as they are still …show more content…
Initial arriving guests were directed to their seats by Ashlin and they were highly encouraged to sit in the most inner seats. This provided the pathway for late attendees. Most attendees were well behaved, however in regards to the catering table, rules were not being followed. Initially, the executive team had placed a sign stating that the food was reserved, however it was not followed. A volunteer was put in place to further enforce the idea that the food was reserved for artists and entertainers, however the guests would often argue back and in turn the volunteer could not stop them. Many guests felt that they were entitled to have this service because they had paid for this event, thus causes the rebuttal from the attendee. According to Hammersly and Atkinson (1983), it is impossible to escape the implications of gender, thus we cannot reach genderless neutrality. Men are stereotyped to be an authoritative figure, thus the male volunteer who was put in place to supervise the catering table was there to assert dominance. However, the male volunteer was generally passive and quiet individual, thus this may have affected the overall stereotype. Hammersly and Atkinson (1983) also stated that women generally get access to with relative ease in comparison to men and in this case, the volunteer did allow several women to take food off of the catering