Giving Back is the New Luxury: Fashion 4 Development’s Efforts to Promote Positive Change

Fashion 4 Development’s tagline, “Giving Back is the New Luxury,” goes right along with its mission and message to promote positive social change. Fashion 4 Development (F4D) is a global private-sector platform created to Support the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and “Every Woman, Every Child.” F4D was founded in 2011 by Evie Evangelou in cooperation with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

Recently, F4D announced the launch of several new initiatives to accelerate sustainability within the fashion industry, advance women’s empowerment, and social and economic development. The announcement follows a week of social impact events held by F4D, including the 2nd Annual Sustainable Goals Banquet, the 10th Annual First Ladies Luncheon, and a film screening in partnership with Human Kind.

The banquet featured a live musical performance by Grammy-award winner Dionne Warwick. F4D presenters were Earthday Network President Kathleen Rogers, Film Producer Michael Simkin, environmentalist Dr. Marcelo Carvalho De Andrade, financier Mickey Shapiro, and TV personality Nigel Barker. Honorees at the banquet were presented with Agents of Change awards, this included Hugh Evans and Simon Moss of Global Citizen, Yunus Dogan of Texas Biotech, Odessa Rae, Filmmaker of “Navalny,” Richard Kane of Verijet, and Her Royal Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Education Above All (EAA).

At the 10th Annual First Ladies Luncheon, the crowd was given a special performance by Sirintip, an artist who sang a song about climate change called “carbon.” The Bangkok-born singer, producer, and multi-modal artist views carbon as a call to action for herself as much as her listeners. Pre-orders for her upcoming album “Carbon” are available now!

F4D builds upon core leadership principles of the 4E’s: Educate, Empower, Enhance and Enrich. The organization works with partners to promote the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle industries as well as advance economic and social development activities, preserve culture and empower women.

“Never has there been a stronger need to implement environmental, social, and governance solutions on a global scale to ignite positive change both for ourselves and for future generations to come. We are proud to unite international leaders and change-makers from around the world to share ideas and inspiration for how we can improve sustainable systems – inspiring responsible social change from what we wear to what we eat and how we live,” said Evie Evangelou, president and founder of Fashion 4 Development to Preeta Sinha, founder of One Green Planet and sustainable fashion brand Tiny Rescue. Preeta was in attendance at the banquet and luncheon.

The five major F4D initiatives aim to help the preservation of culture, the empowerment of women and children, and environmental sustainability. The initiatives include:

Musicians in the Key of Free: This global initiative is for artists of all nations to help unite in Support of refugees around the world. The initiative was created by entertainment attorney Michael Shapiro, award-winning songwriter Diane Warren, and musician Mick Fleetwood, and championed by F4D’s Evie Evangelou. It was announced at F4D’s 2nd Annual Sustainable Goals Banquet with a live performance by Dione Warwick. The initiative will now invite top international artists to record Diane Warren’s new song “Free” in their native language. It will be released in a compilation album from different countries that aims to spark dialogue about our humanitarian refugee crisis.

Goodwill Ambassador for ‘Preserving Culture’: F4D appointed a new Goodwill Ambassador, Lola Tillyaeva, the founder of Human Kind Institute. She will act as a cultural liaison and work to preserve the beauty of cultures around the world through food, fashion, and the arts, according to the organization. Tillyaeva will use film, art exhibitions, and fashion shows to be compiled into a coffee table book to be showcased as art installations and begin a world tour at La Maison de l’Ouzbékistan Gallery in Paris.

F4D’s Goodwill Ambassador: Áslaug Magnúsdóttir, founder and CEO of Katla, will join F4D as the Goodwill Ambassador. Aslaug will work on developing a new business model for the fashion industry. Katla and F4D will join forces to create a comprehensive research project in collaboration with the International Trade Centre in Geneva. They aim to implement a model for buyers and supplies in the fashion industry that is more profitable, sustainable, and reduces overproduction, as well as furthering the economic inclusion and advancement of women in the industry.

SDG Youth Goodwill Project: BrieLee is the co-founder of Shiffon Co. Shiffon Co is a jewelry brand that uses a single-product strategy and donates proceeds to Support six female-founded companies around the globe. BrieLee has been announced as F4D’s SDG Youth Goodwill Ambassador and will mentor college entrepreneurs to build sustainable companies from the ground up.

Humankind Institute Partnership: F4D also partnered with the Humankind Institute to foster exhibitions, installations, film and speaker series, state-of-the-art technologies, and educational programs. These will all aim to improve ‘inter-conscious communication and promote holistic learning.

To learn more about F4D, visit, https://www.fashion4development.com/

Raise awareness while making a fashion statement by wearing sustainable brands like Tiny Rescue. Check out the Climate Change Collection!

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