Project Condom through a Participant's Eyes

Project Condom was not something I had ever heard of. When we first started discussing it in our YAB meetings, I was very intrigued. Project Condom has that effect on viewers, it is very intriguing. The name itself has shock value.

The whole idea behind Project Condom is aiming to not only eliminate the stigma that surrounds safe sex practices, but also to raise awareness about sexual health. In Project Condom, contestants design a dress with their team, but there’s a catch: at least 60% of the dress has to be made of condoms. This was not only challenging but time-consuming. Constructing our dress took a lot of hands and several days to get the final product we desired. Our team, made up of members from the Teen Connect Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and the Ybor Youth Clinic’s Youth Community Advisory Board, constructed the dress to resemble Zendaya’s 2018 Met

Gala look. Her look symbolized protection and armor, which is what we were trying to convey as well. The goal of our dress, and the YAB’s current safer sex campaign, is to show how important protection against STDs, STIs, and unplanned pregnancy is when engaging in sexual activity.

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The runway show itself provided many surprises to audience members, and that is the whole point. Sex education and awareness about using the correct protection methods when engaging in sexual activity are often stigmatized. The Project Condom runway show took that stigma and slapped it in the face with colorful and loud outfits, made of condoms! The different teams all put on an amazing show, and as one of the runway models, it was an honor just to wear the dress we had made. It was great to see the impact the show had on people, and I know that many audience members will always remember the time they went to go see a condom fashion show.

Written by: Savannah Rude, Blog Manager, Teen Connect Youth Advisory Board

The Tampa Bay premiere of Project Condom was hosted by Metro Inclusive Health and inclusivitea in partnership with Teen Connect Tampa Bay and ONE Condoms.