Clothing, Community and Cause – NOVO

On April 25, 2009 at 6pm – a mild-manner church will be converted into the fashion capital of Southern California (at least in my mind). At the heart of the show are the values of community, clothing and cause. NOVO is a fashion show that wants to connect the community with a cause through the means of clothing (fashion).

Jessica Chang and Ellen Chang (not related) are the brain children of this idea. Inspired to make a difference on the local level, their heart was to connect the community with a cause. They believe that most people want to contribute to a cause but don’t have the means to connect. This fashion show was the result of two compassionate hearts.

For the past 3 months, NOVO has been collecting clothes from the community. Instead of running a typical clothing drive, the creators of NOVO wanted to take it beyond donations and into the realm of action. They decided to invite designers to come and create fashion lines from the donated clothes. This eventually evolved into a fashion show with the purpose of connecting the community to the cause through clothing.

On fashion day, the show will display the various lines of the designers. Then some of the lines will be auctioned off and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to organizations that care for the cause of local poverty. All the left over clothes will be donated to local shelters and organizations.

As well, local organizations will be attending the fashion to connect the community to their cause. Many of these organizations work in the area of local poverty/homelessness and are always in need of resources and volunteers. So far the organizations that have committed to come out are:

• The LA Dream Center
• TOM Shoes
• ePATH
• JustOne
• Invisible People *Update 3.30.09*
  
• Mission4Him *Update 3.30.09*
  
• Mercy House *Update 3.30.09*
  

There are also several other organizations that have been invited but have not responded yet. At the heart of this show, is a desire to serve these organizations that do great work by connecting them with the community.

Would you consider coming out and supporting a great cause? For more information and updates you can find NOVO:

http://novofashionshow.tumblr.com/ via the Web
@novofashion via twitter
novofashion@gmail.com via email

If you have any questions or if you have something to contribute to this event please feel free to connect with the NOVO team. Hope to see everyone there.

*Update 3.30.09*

Mark Horvath from Invisiblepeople.tv will be coming out and will be giving a presenation.

Tags: Cause, Clothing, Community, Fashion, Homeless, Homelessness, Justice