Last semester, Raynard and Chan had a class together, which is where they discovered they were both passionate about social justice issues.

Soon after, Raynard invited Chan to be a part of Fashion for the Fire. Raynard had been working on the show since last spring.

This included reaching out to the Firecracker Foundation, an organization which works to support children who have survived sexual trauma.

Raynard and Chan then had the opportunity to meet with various sexual assault survivors to hear their stories and develop the inspiration for their designs.

“When you’re given this story that’s that impacting and powerful it makes it easy to feel that desire and that drive to design a piece,” Chan said.

Raynard said one of the main goals of Fashion for the Fire is to bring awareness to the implications of sexual trauma.

“A lot of times people don’t want to talk about this issue because they don’t know what to say or it makes them uncomfortable,” Raynard said.

She said this show will give people a visual representation and a talking point to facilitate conversation about sexual assault.

The idea for the show came to Raynard because of a close friend who was dealing with the aftermath of sexual trauma.

“Just witnessing how she’s overcome it and just the powerful person she is has really inspired me,” Raynard said. “She was the heart of the inspiration for the project.”

Over the summer, Chan worked with social refugees in Rome. She said though it didn’t pertain to the specific issue of sexual assault, it helped her to understand the significance of supporting each other.

“Knowing the importance of giving back to your community...through any cause I think it’s important to be aware of that and be a part of that,” Chan said.

Fashion for the Fire will be Saturday from 7-9 p.m. at The Runway in downtown Lansing.