Category — Fashion For A Cause

Rachel Roy Designs a special ‘Ghana’ Clutch for OprhanAid Africa

One of our fave designers, Rachel Roy has just launched the latest addition in her charitable collection: the Ghana Clutch. This accessory is part of Rachel’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness and aid for people in need, through her charitable platform, “Kindness is Always Fashionable.” 100% of net proceeds from the clutch will benefit OrphanAid Africa, a non profit organization dedicated to helping children to grow up in safe, permanent family settings. We love fashion for a cause!

For Rachel’s birthday, she is giving the gift of education to children in Ghana; from now until January 26th. Please help fulfill Rachel’s birthday wish by entering her contest on the Rachel Roy Facebook page and Rachel Roy will donate $1 to OrphanAid Africa, to match Rachel’s donation. Plus, 15 lucky RR fans will WIN the limited edition Kindness Is Always Fashionable Ghana clutch- which has already been spotted in the hands of stylish celebs including Hilary Swank and Margherita Missoni.

For the past six years, Glamour has collaborated with fashion designers to create limited edition items to benefit charities through Glamour’s Fashion Gives Back initiative. This year, Glamour is teaming up with TOMS shoes to celebrate a group of top supermodels who are making a difference around the world. Glamour’s sixth annual Fashion Gives Back project is featured in the January 2012 issue and profiles Amber Valletta, Elettra Wiedemann, Kyleigh Kuhn, Liya Kebede and Tao Okamoto wearing the special edition TOMS, all photographed by Arthur Elgort.

TOMS shoes created three exclusive shoes for this year’s Fashion Gives Back, with a percentage of proceeds from the sale of each pair benefiting the models’ charities. In addition, TOMS and Glamour will each contribute $2.50 per sale, for a total of $5 per limited edition pair* of shoes purchased (*For a maximum amount up to 23,000 pairs), to benefit the five humanitarian organizations chosen by the models.

Plus, for each pair sold, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need as part of their One for One program. The models’ charities include:

-Amber Valletta: Charity Water, a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
-Elettra Wiedemann: One Frickin Day motivates individuals to give either one day of their salary, one day of time, or one day service to specific projects around the world where the need is great, but the goals are achievable.
-Kyleigh Kuhn: Roots Of Peace, a humanitarian organization dedicated to eradicating landmines worldwide and rehabilitating the land to make it productive once more.
-Liya Kebede: Liya Kebede Foundation is saving the lives of mothers and children through access to maternal health care.
-Tao Okamoto: Peace Winds, a Japenese Relief Fund dedicated to the support of people in distress, threatened by conflict, poverty or other turmoil.

Fashion designer, Dominique Auxilly launches ‘The Tulle Hearts’ campaign

The girl with the heart of tulle, Dominique Auxilly, and OseiPR present The Tulle Hearts Campaign. The Tulle Hearts Campaign which just launched this past Monday is a six-month campaign effort where societal issues will be simulated via provocative imagery (and fashion of course), with a portion of monthly sales from Dominique Auxilly to be donated to a select charity.  Each month a different charitable organization will be selected to receive a portion of sales from the Dominique Auxilly line. Once a charity is selected, a shoot will be conceptualized to coincide with its premise, with models donning Auxilly couture.

The first campaign tackles the issue of homelessness — more specifically how it affects mothers and children. “…On an average night, 1,105 family members are on the streets, 10,926 find refuge in an emergency shelter, and 15,255 stay in transitional homes. – Huffington Post.” Auxilly has partnered with Caring Hearts Loving Hands Ministries International and will donate 10% of August 2011 dauxilly.com sales directly to families. The Tulle Hearts campaign strives to do more than simply hand out checks, but to also interact on a personal level, providing solace to those in need.

The Tulle Hearts campaign utilizes the Auxilly brand to highlight issues plaguing society, while dispelling fashion industry stereotypes.  The goal of the campaign is to encourage brand supporters/general public to see themselves in those in unfavorable positions, inspiring them to also lend a helping hand.  Please join Fashion For Breakfast & Dominique Auxilly in supporting this effort! We love supporting fashion for a cause! :)

Select photos from the first Tulle Hearts Campaign shoot. Courtesy of Dominique Auxilly & OseiPR

The third and final show I had the pleasure of attending was House of Versatile Styles (HVS) by Bukola Are. Instead of a traditional runway show, Are opted to show her collection in the ever-popular “presentation” style. More designers are catching on to this method, as it allows the attendees to really see the clothes up close and personal. This worked in Are’s favor because this collection was all about details and texture. Are used fabrics that were inspired by her travels, such as satin lame, swiss lace, and sequence prints from West Africa. I can also see subtle influences from decades past, namely the 60s and 80s. Much like Keo, this collection is dripping with bold colors and is also not for those who want to play it safe.

For this presentation, HVS partnered with FSL cosmetics and Olas Handbags. The models wore a shade of FSL lip color created exclusively for HVS inspired by the fall collection dubbed Purple Goddess. All handbags used in the show were made by Olas Handbags and were meant to compliment the clothes and accessories in the presentation.

Unlike the previous shows I attended, I was able to take more photos at HVS due to the style of presentation. Here are the highlights:

The second show I attended for New York Fashion Week was by a newcomer by the name of Keo. This was the debut collection from the 22 year old designer. It was by no means safe, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! The collection, dubbed “Sexy MF” after the Prince song of the same name, was inspired by the Purple One himself and the excess of the 80s, but with a modern 2011 spin. Keo is fearless and did not shy away from bright colors, lingerie, loud prints, and metallics. These clothes are not for the faint of heart, they’re designed for confident women who command your attention! This was an ambitious effort for a debut, so I can only imagine that future collections by Keo will continue to blow away her audience and critics!

Keo also used the show to raise awareness for the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation and the Epilepsy Foundation of Metro New York. Keo suffers from both Lupus and Epilepsy, but don’t think that she lets these conditions hold her back. Despite numerous hospital visits and extreme fatigue, she was still able to put on an impressive debut show.