FASHION GIRLS FOR HUMANITY

Creatives are a fickle type, and they’re not without their convictions. Fashion—high fashion in particular—is of a breed of its own, and rightfully so. The market is one in which exclusivity is a core component, a give-and-take in which widespread distribution carries with it a certain risk of guilt by association. Even philanthropic efforts had, until recently, their own political complexity, requiring that givers keep an eye on both the cause and the community behind it.

Fashion Girls for Humanity has made significant strides in overcoming this complexity, creating a remarkable track record in the process. Founded in the wake of the 2011 earthquake in east Japan by four fashion executives—Kikka Hanazawa, Tomoko Ogura, Julie Gilhart, and Miki Higasa—Fashion Girls for Humanity has become the rallying point for philanthropic efforts in the industry, raising millions for various causes along the way. As curatorial as they are effective, the team stands as the center point around which a global network of fashion-industry professionals gather to use their abilities for social good.

The key role, explains Hanazawa, who also serves as CEO of New York–based fashion line VPL, is to exist as an outlet for the various components necessary for each effort, not the dictator of such. “We’re spontaneous. We always talk about sustainability and social enterprise. I think these things are really possible through fashion and clothes,” she explains. The effort from the beginning has been designed to allow everyone from designers to hotels, magazine editors, models, and those in between to get involved.

“When we did this for Japan, we were kind of surprised that the dynamic is there,” says Hanazawa, noting that the fashion industry can be as fragmented as it is creative. “We realized that there’s something the fashion industry can do for humanitarian causes. After something like that happens, we have a feeling that we all want to come together to do something.” The sixty designers who gathered at the Bowery Hotel for the organization’s first effort included everyone from Alexander Wang to Diane von Furstenberg, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCullough of Proenza Schouler to Phillip Lim, along with two thousand supportive shoppers. The end result? $270,000 raised, a hundred percent of which was donated to organiza- tions including Japan Society’s Japan Earthquake Relief Fund and NYC’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund. A recent auction netted $115,000 for victims of last November’s typhoon in the Philippines. “We like to see tangible results,” says Hanazawa.

View even more stories in the full Social Innovation Portfolio

As Hanazawa notes, corporate-level labels like Ralph Lauren and Tory Burch are not without their own philanthropic arms, but young, rising designers—despite their popularity—are often without the resources needed to lead impactful charities. “It’s more organic or grassroots activities, really coming from the people who are much smaller,” Hanazawa explains. “We don’t have any agenda, no political motivation.” Fashion Girls has, in turn, nearly shed its own brand, absorbing the industry under its umbrella, and it continues to grow as more brands gather under its watch. The second benefit for the Japan tsunami, held in April 2012, attracted 120 designers and raised $140,000, for example, and a similar effort for Hurricane Sandy raised $180,000 through sales of designer goods in New York and Los Angeles.

This impact has created a demand of its own, and Fashion Girls’ next calling may ultimately be determining its own shape. Even for a young organization formed entirely of volunteers, a near-maternal expectation has begun to form. When disaster strikes, explains Hanazawa, “It has become that kind of organization, where people are like, ‘Are you guys doing anything?’ ” She continues, “We, as an industry, can hold demonstrations like musicians do. We can come together to show that there are things we can do together in a cool way, and in a cohesive way.”

For more information, please visit FashionGirlsforJapan.com.

Brady Donnelly is the assistant editor of The Last Magazine and a digital product director based in Brooklyn, New York.

Esteban Gomez Finds Creatives a Home

With years of experience in the fashion industry, the Creatives Agent at Compass offers designers, photographers, stylists, models, and others a new approach to find a place to call home.

The Last Magazine Celebrates the Fall 2019 Issue

The cover story of our Fall 2019 issue is a love letter to New York City by photographer Dan Martensen and stylist Clare Richardson starring one of our favorite models of the moment, Binx Walton. For our launch party, we packed into Lola, one of the East Village’s newest hotspots, for an all-night dance party […]

Peter Ash Lee's New Magazine 'Burdock' Celebrates Asian-American Talent

Named after a root vegetable common to Asian cuisine, photographer Peter Ash Lee’s new magazine and digital platform celebrates Asian-American culture in an attempt to welcome a more diverse group both in front of and behind the camera.

Hans Neumann's Berlin Skaters

In an exclusive photo essay and “video poem,” the Peruvian photographer and director explores his family’s ancestral home through the lens of a group of young skateboarders who reflect the vitality of a new generation of European youth.

FUMI NAGASAKA STARTS A 'TEENAGE RIOT'

In her second book, the Japanese photographer captures the individual personalities and æsthetics of four adolescent girls in their hometowns in a collection that is both intimate and anthropological.

RO KWON ON CULTS AND YOUNG LOVE IN 'THE INCENDIARIES'

In her propulsive début novel, ten years in the making, the author ponders the unfathomability of others in the tale of a young woman who joins a cult.

MARTIN ZÄHRINGER GOES FISHING WITH JOHN BAKER

In his first book, the London-based photographer documents every facet of the life of a Barbadian fisherman with whom he felt an immediate kinship, acting as both visitor and companion.

JONAH BOKAER'S FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY

The collaborative, media-mixing contemporary choreographer celebrates fifteen years of his own company with a retrospective program and world premiere to look back while moving forward.

MARIO SORRENTI SHOWS A NEW SIDE OF KATE MOSS

In a new book of previously unreleased photographs, the famed photographer spotlights the iconic model’s innocence from their days of youthful love.

ROMAN MEJIA SHINES IN A NEW GENERATION OF DANCERS AT NEW YORK CITY BALLET

As the company makes its way through tumultuous times, the eighteen-year-old demonstrates the promise of a rising young crop of dancers with his clean lines and bounding jumps.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: VICE IMPACT PUBLISHER KATHERINE KEATING CHANNELS YOUTH ACTIVISM TO CREATE CHANGE

In an era of flourishing youth activism, the politically-minded advocate is harnessing the tools of social media and the internet to effect positive change by a young generation through direct calls to action.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: AUTHOR ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN SAYS WRITING IS LIKE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME

In her novel and short stories, the Staten Island-based author probes the border between science and literature with discomfiting tales about the body and its relationship to the perilous world around it.

HERMIONE HOBY'S 'NEON IN DAYLIGHT' REINVENTS THE NEW YORK NOVEL FOR A NEW AGE

In her début novel, the young British author ponders questions of selfhood and power dynamics in a thoughtful bildungsroman set during a sweltering New York summer.

ADWOA ABOAH HOSTS OUR TENTH-ANNIVERSARY PARTY WITH BURBERRY

Take a look at our tenth-anniversary celebration with Burberry at Radegast Hall in Brooklyn, hosted by our latest cover model Adwoa Aboah.

KANAZAWA

Photographer Marie Zucker was given rare access into an okiya, or boarding house, in the Japanese city of Kanazawa, where she captured these reflective images of geisha-in-training.

THE LAST WORD: ICEBERG

The Arctic ice pack puts the freeze on a teetering relationship in the latest edition of The Last Word, our ongoing series of original short fiction.

THE LAST GIFT GUIDE 2017

Our annual selection of gifts for you and yours, including everything you can imagine from a silk toothbrush on up to your own private island.

DAVID HALLBERG ON INJURIES AND INSECURITIES

In his new memoir, the celebrated principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre recounts his intense childhood training, joining the Bolshoi Ballet, and the arduous yearlong rehabilitation after a nearly career-ending injury that gave him a new perspective on his talent and the art form.