Fashion Forward: Fashion philanthropy

by Susan Rinkunas

Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Mosaic

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For me, fashion is a selfish hobby. Aside from simply covering my body, I buy things that make me look and feel good. So it's nice when fashion can incorporate a little selflessness once in a while. Retailers offer "a-portion-of-the-proceeds" products all the time and they're smart for doing so - stores look like martyrs and consumers feel like good Samaritans. But when charity becomes trendy, non-profits might benefit from people who know little about their cause.

But Anna Ciulla, chair of the medical technology department, says the reason you buy a charity product doesn't matter - what matters is that you bought it at all.

Ciulla sells beaded jewelry made by women of the Acholi tribe in Uganda and sends the profits back to their country. Members of the tribe were forced to relocate after the nation's civil war and, as a result, they live in life-threatening poverty. Ciulla says some people buy the jewelry specifically to support the cause, while others purchase it because they like the way it looks - and either reason is just fine with her.

"When the general public sees them they find them interesting and intriguing," Ciulla says. "But when people hear the story, it opens up their hearts even more so."

She says jewelry sales and other fundraising efforts in the past year have put 32 children in school. Ciulla says she sells the jewelry at craft shows, church fairs, lunches and by appointment.

The problem with charity however, is that it can demoralize people. Ciulla says of the Ugandan tribe, "They don't want a hand out." That's part of the reason why she and her niece make it a point to pay the Acholi women for their work, not just throw money at them. Big corporations can be guilty of the latter but, at some point, large donations are needed.

Take M·A·C Cosmetics for example. Since 1994, its VIVA GLAM lipstick line has raised more than $86 million for the M·A·C AIDS Fund, an organization that supports people living with HIV and AIDS. Lipstick doesn't bear a brand name when you wear it, so VIVA GLAM supporters aren't advertising their charity as trendy - unlike the Bono's brainchild, PRODUCT (RED).

The (RED) campaign enlists major brands to sell a special product or line of products and donates 40 to 50 percent of the proceeds to the Global Fund, which provides treatment, counseling and testing for people in Swaziland and Rwanda. (RED) items are easily identifiable by their candy-apple hues or catchy Gap screen-prints like "ADMI(RED)" or "EMPOWE(RED)."

Gap made a globally-responsible move by employing workers in the African country of Lesotho to produce its PRODUCT (RED) T-shirt, made of 100 percent African cotton, according to the Gap Web site. The workers in Lesotho will receive wages, which will go into the economy and potentially do greater things than humanitarian aid could do alone.

The partnership between charities and retailers is a good solution for now. The non-profits get greater exposure and monetary support from people who wouldn't ordinarily get involved, retailers profit from increased foot traffic and hard-core advocates get to support their cause. But retailers should follow Cuilla's and Gap's lead by trying to invigorate the economies of impact countries instead of dumping money in their coffers.

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