ReFashion For Life Combines Clothing, Remodeling Trends

Any show that has models strutting down runways with a new bathroom faucet or slabs of siding is bound to get noticed. 

Such is the case with ReFashion For Life, a unique event that combines the latest in fashion and remodeling trends.

The show, now in its sixth year, will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Callen Construction's Muskego showroom and company grounds, S63 W13131 Janesville Road. 


ReFashion For Life benefits Elena's House, which supports people affected by HIV/AIDS. 

The show was borne out of the longtime friendship of Elena's House Executive Director Mary Ellen Huwiler and Callen Construction co-founder Tom Callen. 

Combing the idea of fashion, which is part of Huwiler's background, with products in the Callen showroom came out of a brainstorming session. It evolved into its current form over two years until the first show in 2008, Tom Callen said. 

The inaugural event was a huge hit. Organizers, hoping to raise between $5,000 and $10,000, were astounded when more than 225 attendees help raise more than $20,000.

In the last five years, ReFashion for Life has raised more than $100,000 for Elena's House.

"It was way beyond what we thought it was going to be," Callen said. 

The program is a big source of revenue for Elena's House, which is designed to give people with HIV or AIDS a supportive environment and help transition them back into independent living.

The house, with four bedrooms and 24-hour supervision, has been home to 68 people since it was founded in 2001.

A majority of those people have been able to live on their own again, Huwiler said, including one person who left in August after almost seven years at Elena's House. 

Elena's House "is a home where those who are facing the loneliness and isolation that often comes with an HIV diagnosis can receive love and the opportunity to belong to a 'chosen' family that accepts them unconditionally," Huwiler said. 

Huwiler got involved with the cause after her husband's brother, who was HIV positive, died in 1994. She left her career in fashion design and took a job with St. Camillus, where she worked with residents of Raphael House, a supportive home for people living with HIV and AIDS. 

Elena's House opened not long after Raphael House closed its doors in 2000. 

Tickets
Tickets for ReFashion For Life can be purchased online.