Players from the Pittsburgh Steelers will tackle the world of runway fashion on Friday with the annual Steelers Style show, which benefits two health-related charities.
Art and Greta Rooney and Mike and Kiya Tomlin -- the Steelers' chairman and coach, respectively, and their wives -- are chairing the event, where players and their wives and kids will show off both casual and elegant outfits on the catwalk. The evening includes dinner, performances by the University of Pittsburgh dance team, and three fashion segments: the football players strutting in their jerseys, players and families modeling casual Reebok wear, and players and families modeling formal suits, tuxes and dresses.
For the players, participating in the fashion show is a hoot, and an opportunity to give back to the community, says kicker Jeff Reed, who says he loves to do it.
"Mrs. Rooney said if I'm not in it, she's going to kill me," says Reed, laughing. "But I'd be doing it anyway."
Michele Rosenthal, community relations manager for the Steelers, says Reed is one of the most enthusiastic participants in the fashion show, which features 30-35 team members, and many wives and kids. Steelers players James Farrior and Deshea Townsend are among those confirmed for the show.
"It's a fun thing; they enjoy it," Rosenthal says.
Several local and national companies are sponsors of the event, including Reebok, American Eagle and hip'tique, a Shadyside boutique that is providing formal women's clothes. A significant portion of the proceeds from Steelers Style 2007 -- chaired by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and nose tackle Casey Hampton -- benefits the Cancer Caring Center in Bloomfield, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute in Oakland.
Last year, the fashion show and the annual Taste of the Steelers event -- which will be held Nov. 4, with a special 75th anniversary theme -- grossed about $700,000, and the fashion show sold out with 900 people attending. Organizers expect the same results this year.
The event has provided significant financial support to the cancer and transplantation organizations, which have seen "fantastic results" with the funding, says Rebecca Whitlinger, executive director of the Cancer Caring Center. The organization, which has been a Steelers Style beneficiary for more than 15 years, has been able to add several support group locations to its community outreach efforts because of the show proceeds.
"Whenever we can serve more people and help patients and families cope with the impact of the diagnosis, we feel everybody is better for it," says Whitlinger, who credits Greta Rooney for the fashion show's success.
Friday's show will have an extra local emphasis because of Pittsburgh's love for the Steelers, says Alana Bly, one of the show's producers. More local companies will be supplying fashions this year.
"The Steelers are part of everybody's neighborhood," she says.
Because the Steelers are celebrating their 75th season, Greta Rooney says the fashion show will include some retro clothing and music from decades throughout the team's history.
"We'll integrate a little bit of the oldies with the new," she says. "You'll see it through fashion and through music. It will have a fun twist to it."
The players' children are reliable show-stealers, Greta Rooney says.
"That's the highlight: when those little kids come out," she says. Steelers Style, Greta Rooney says, is "definitely about the players more than anything else -- more than it being a fashion show."
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