by Lauren Bush Lauren and her mother Sharon were among the honorees at Fashion 4 Development’s First Annual Women’s Luncheon in New York City on Tuesday.
Philanthropists, artists, activists and designers attended the event at the 583 Park Avenue event venue, which raised the importance of global unity in seeking peace and uplifting the poor. Between the awards and lunch, several hundred guests also watched two live fashion shows.
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Looking back at the evolution of her organisation, F4D founder Evie Evangelou said there is more of a multicultural approach to what is happening around the world to create peace, and also to reach a wider audience, including in some of the more remote regions by expanding a. “Global Runway” and other initiatives. “We need to let people know the beauty of all these regions to try to spread the hate, the racism and everything else,” she said.
Before taking to the stage, Lauren spoke about how fashion can reflect people’s values, and how that can certainly be a tool for diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding. She also fondly recalled how she first heard of F4D through Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani. Her mother said that the award from F4D is an honor because the organization is central to the causes of women and children in particular, because women and children are the most vulnerable people.
Later in the program as she accepted the honor, Sharon Bush recalled how she raised her children to be philanthropic and made goodwill visits to homeless shelters and hospitals to teach them how they could be helpful. And it worked – because all three are engaged in humanitarian efforts. Bush described her daughter Lauren as “wonderful.”
Honored to share the F4D awards with her mother, Lauren spoke about how her mother started the Karitas Foundation to support homeless children. This gave Lauren the opportunity to see firsthand “what it means to be a social entrepreneur and a changemaker,” she says with great praise.
Lauren described her own non-profit FEED as “my first baby in 17 years”. (The purchase of FEED gift products supports its partners on the ground working to alleviate chronic hunger and malnutrition crises through school feeding programs.) Lauren recalled the “life-changing experience” she had as a college student at work with the United. National World Food Programme.
Speaking about that first trip to Guatemala with her mother and sister, Lauren later said, “I couldn’t [not] do something when you see a problem like that, especially youth hunger.
Other honorees included Academy Award-winning film producer Eva Orner, and guests watched a clip of her documentary “Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion”. After reporting unfair labor practices and the environmental effects of discarded fabrics in landfills and water, she said she was sickened by the sheer amount of discarded clothing she had seen covering the shore. Environmental journalist and author Amy Green was also honored at the event, as was Chinese-American television personality and philanthropist Yue-Sai Kan, who helped bring cultural highlights from the two countries together.
During the event, guests also introduced the Sandriver Cashmere fashion show and later praised founder Juliet Guo for her Shanghai-based ethical brand that also helps train, educate and empower workers in Central Mongolia.
Before the attendees made their way back through the traffic-congested streets for the 79th United Nations General Assembly, they watched another runway show. For the first time in the United States, Wang Feng Couture debuted on the catwalk with elaborate gowns and shimmery metallic dresses. Kan was enthusiastic about the designer in his opening remarks.
Other designers in the crowd included jewelry designer Prince Dimitri from Yugoslavia, who will be heading to QVC in Pennsylvania for his first time on air Thursday. The collection is inspired by the royal jewelry featured in her book “Once Upon a Diamond.” But he wanted to be at F4D for Sharon Bush, who has been a friend “forever” and “is such a role model,” he said. Another jewelry designer and furrier, Helen Yarmak, came forward to support Evangelou and said that her own fur and jewelry designs are sustainable because they are meant to last and be passed down for generations.
And Julia Haart, known to many from the Netflix series “My Unorthodox Life,” was talking about her label + Body by Julia Haart, which will be sold at Macy’s and other retailers, as well as the Home Shopping Network for the first time at start. in November. Designed to be size-inclusive with cups built up to a size F cut, the company expects unit sales to more than double from 14,000 units, Haart said.
Another fan of F4D founder Susan Gutfreund said, “I love anything that promotes artists and artisans in New York City. Look at this [gesturing toward the extravagant Wang Feng gowns on the runway],” she said. “I’m a New Yorker. I’m a New Yorker. I believe in promoting just about anything [artistic] that’s in my city. But also, I have grown up internationally.”
Jean Shafiroff, one of last year’s F4D honorees, spoke to WWD about how the fashion industry employs hundreds of millions worldwide. “As much as we need to conserve, we also need to buy so that those people are still employed. Changing fashion to be more environmentally friendly, and ensuring conditions for women and animals [in the supply chain] that they are not breached is extremely important, and that is happening.”
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