The annual Benefit Fashion Show, originally planned for March 5, has been postponed to April 23. Instead of taking place in the quad as previously planned, the show will now be held in the gym, with models being masked while walking. Tickets will sell at $10 online and $15 at the door. 

Head Benefit commissioner senior Tiffany Wang attributed the postponement to pandemic-related issues, including difficulties finding stores to sponsor the event as well as overall lack of experience in running an in-person show.

In previous years, the event has typically been sponsored by small, local clothing businesses, but these same vendors have seen their sales severely affected from COVID-19, Wang said. Among other results this means all models other than the ones in the Prom category will have to use their own clothes.

Additionally, both Wang and fellow head commissioner senior Grace Hsu only have experience with the magazine that they created in place of the show last year. The rest of the commission, seniors Amarangana Tyagi and Chris Liu and juniors Avani Kongetira and Haley Marks, is entirely new.

“[The show] requires a lot more work and coordination than was necessary for the magazine,” Wang said. “We were able to put the magazine together at home, but now we need all the models on board. It’s been a lot harder to communicate too since the majority of people don’t use Facebook anymore.”

Around a dozen models have dropped out due to the schedule change, and there are now a little under 200 models for the show.

“We hope that postponing the show will give us more time to organize,”  Wang said. “That way we can also give everyone the chance, especially the underclassmen, to experience walking down the runway in all its glory.”