India, dressed as “Elsa” prepares to walk the runway as designer Kara Saun directs her during a costume show at the Union Station Family Center in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Saun, who helped put together the runway show, provided the costumes for the children for them to keep for Halloween. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
With a wave of a wand, heroes and princesses hailing from all over the Disneyverse and the Marvel Cinematic Universe crossed paths and took center stage Monday at Union Station Homeless Services Family Center.
The Hulk, a Black Panther-Iron Man hybrid and Queen Maleficent Bertha were all there Monday evening in costumes befitting a movie set. One could almost hear J. Jonah Jameson demanding photos of Spiderman.
Although the mishmash of characters may seem random, all had one thing in common: They were played by kids. And they are all currently homeless.
Union Station Homeless Services, the lead agency of homeless services in the San Gabriel Valley, presented its first Halloween fashion runway show for kids, hosted by “Fashion Fairy Godmother,” Kara Saun, costume designer Disney channel’s “Descendants” 1, 2 and 3.
Although the mishmash of characters may seem random, all had one thing in common: They were played by kids. And they are all currently homeless.
Union Station Homeless Services, the lead agency of homeless services in the San Gabriel Valley, presented its first Halloween fashion runway show for kids, hosted by “Fashion Fairy Godmother,” Kara Saun, costume designer Disney channel’s “Descendants” 1, 2 and 3.
She spent two months preparing the children’s costumes, with some brought in and others hand-crafted. Her team, alongside Union Station’s volunteers, helped change the center into a full-on fashion show, with a dressing room and selfie station.
Graphic designer Jesse Pineda put together an immersive room filled with a Halloween mask wall and winter wonderland backdrop. Halloween is his favorite holiday not because of the scary environment, but for the opportunity for kids to get creative and mysterious.
“Sometimes you don’t have resources to be able to partake in something as simple as Halloween. It’s not even about the candy, but some kids never dress up,” Pineda said. This experience alone might change their whole outlook on life … [to] just being able to have the opportunity to pretend to be something else [and] escape your reality for one day.”
Kids and families of all ages walked down a black runway lined with LED lights and purple and black star balloons.
Pirate pair Jeniffer Fuentes and Rosenberg Velasquez carried their almost 3-month-old infant, Rosie, clad in a unicorn costume. The catwalk, Fuentes said, felt real.
“Even though, [Rosie] doesn’t know what’s going on, we’re loving it. We’re kids at heart,” Fuentes said.