How do you define beauty? Do you define it through physicality? Through wealth or success? Is it something that radiates from inside the soul? Or is it simply that which inspires us?
Groundwork Opportunities (GO) invites you to Define : Beauty as we embrace fashion to show the intrinsic beauty found within all human beings. The first annual fashion show and fundraiser will be held at the sleek and ultra modern Madrone Studios (1417 15th Street) on Thursday, September 29th, 2011, in San Francisco and will fund the construction of a sustainable clean water well to over 4,000 people.
The essence of beauty and community behind the event powers designers like Retrofit Republic, a women-owned, socially responsible label, who boldly featured community activists as models in their summer 2011 Community Heroes Lookbook of spectacularly rebuilt vintage pieces.
Define : Beauty will springboard up-and-coming designers like Dallas Coulter, who won the Art Institute of California's 2011 Fashion Line Up's "Best Construction" award for her elaborate and impeccably tailored Victorian collection, and Sarah Liller whose 90s-inspired lace trimmed bohemian collection is the epitome of today's street style.
The show will also feature looks from Cari Borja, Ken Chen, MENK, Kajan Padraig and Daniel Sudar, some of San Francisco's most forward-thinking, socially conscious designers.
Inspiration for the fundraiser came to the GO team while working with residents to build a sustainable source of clean drinking water in Moshi, Tanzania. While there, the team was met with an unparalleled level of hospitality and selflessness from a community that existed without everyday resources like clean water. The women of Moshi did not attribute beauty to the latest styles or labels but rather found it through inner strength and contributions to better the community.
That ideal, in turn, spawned the creation of a fashion show that prompted its audience to pause and ponder beauty beyond just its physical implications as a dynamic way to harness the philanthropic power of community to help impact an insurmountable global water crisis.
As with all GO projects, one hundred percent of the proceeds from Define : Beauty would go to completing the clean water well in Tanzania that started it all, but the team felt strongly that every aspect of Define: Beauty should reflect the sentiments of philanthropy and community that spurred its inception.
Define : Beauty partnered with sponsors and local entrepreneurs that were actively engaged in generating awareness and solutions to environmental issues around the world. They reached out to companies like Falling Whistles, which fuels awareness for violence in the Congo, and Hydros Bottles, who reduce the amount of plastic in landfills by producing reusable BPA-free water bottles that can filter on the go. Hydros Bottles also shares Groundwork Opportunities' mission to combat the global water crisis in developing nations and has partnered with Engineers Without Borders to create Operation Hydros, where purchase proceeds go towards providing clean drinking water abroad.
Another partner, Gilt City San Francisco, an exclusive e-commerce site where members can access luxurious local deals and services, infuses philanthropy with glamour by highlighting local charity events and initiatives to show that giving back is just one more way to be beautiful inside and out. These sponsors and many more have contributed amazing goodie bag items, door prizes and apparel that will keep the inspiration that powers Define : Beauty alive once the show has concluded.
The luxurious and environmentally conscious CODE Salon, whose hair and make-up artists help their guests bring out the very best in themselves, have donated top-model-worthy styling for each of the fifty looks. Beast and the Hare, who pride themselves on serving their sustainably sourced meats in a communal space, will provide the evening's hors d'oeuvres. The show has been elevated to the next level due to the support of fashion show producer Clarissa Nicosia, the San Francisco Fashion and Merchant Alliance, San Francisco Indie Fashion and many other influencers from the cities fashion community.
To ensure that the cause behind the show never gets lost in the glamour of the runway, Define : Beauty will engage the audience in a multimedia experience that will refocus their sense of community and beauty.
To attend Define : Beauty purchase tickets here.
Groundwork Opportunities (GO) is a non-profit organization that supports groundbreaking projects and empowers local visionaries to reduce poverty in the developing world. The organization operates off a simple maxim: The Power of Their Ideas and Our Support, and in less than three years the organization impacts over 1,000 people/day in Africa, Asia, and Central America.