SURREY - The goal of a circus-themed lingerie show next week is to give women the gift of properly-fitted bras, and a Surrey store owner is the ringmaster of the event.
Sonya Perkins is a Fraser Heights-area resident who operates the Forever Yours Lingerie store in Langley.
She and her staff are busy planning "A Night at the Circus," their second-annual lingerie fashion show at Cascades Casino in Langley on Friday, May 29.
Event proceeds will go to Supportive Start, a charitable initiative launched by Perkins to help women who face barriers in accessing properly-fitted bras, along with other clothing and hygiene products.
Since its inception last year, the program has given more than 300 bras - both new and
"gently used" - to local outreach organizations, including Surrey's NightShift Street Ministries.
During "fit clinics" organized through Supportive Start, women in need are measured for the bra that best fits them.
"Just a few days ago," Perkins told the Now, "we did a fit clinic at Vivian House on East Cordova Street in Vancouver, for really street-entrenched women, and they were so happy to have received new panties, because they only ever get secondhand
panties. So it was like Christmas for them, which is crazy because this is Canada. But it's a really exciting thing for some women to have something new in their life, even if it's a new bra or panties."
The "A Night at the Carnival" fundraiser is a 19-plus event that will feature midway games such us Bra Pong and a lingerie version of Plinko. Also part of the show are a burlesque artist, a contortionist, a hula-hooper and live band.
All models are volunteering their time for the event, Perkins said.
"We have 22 models and three male models in the show, including two professional models (Elly Mayday, dubbed "The Curvy Canadian," and Jihan Amer, with Wilhelmina Canada).
"The (non-pro) models are ones we've worked with in the past or ones we found during a recent open casting call," Perkins added. "Around 100 people, both female and male, showed up, stripped down to their underwear and walked the runway to show us what they had."
For event tickets and details, visit Foreveryourslingerie.ca.
tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com