“History starts now, with you and me.” With this toast began Fashion Gives Back, a one-night fashion show benefit at the Stone Rose Lounge last night in New York City.
Hosted by History Starts Now, an organization with the goal of ending child trafficking, the event featured up-and-coming designer Suzanne Rae’s collection “A Dress For All Seasons.”
Guests sipped cocktails and snacked on appetizers while enjoying the lounge’s breathtaking view of Central Park. Before the show began, History Starts Now shared some statistics with the audience:
• Child trafficking is a booming billion dollar business exploiting children as sales items.
• Wherever drugs are being sold, children are being sold.
• Child trafficking victimizes 2.5 million children worldwide, 300,000 children in the U.S., and 10,000 children in New York City.
• It affects on average, children 12-13 years old.
Co-founders Kristina Lee Grandstaff and Rachael Ann Lechliter then made the toast, which happens to be their motto, and the show began. Since the venue was so intimate, everyone had a front row seat.
Models weaved through the crowd, displaying Rae’s creations, inspired by and made for the progressive and sophisticated modern woman. "Both feminist and feminine, the line explores the multiple juxtapositions of a woman’s being and interprets these abstract ideas into tangible garments." Rae will give a presentation at Fall Fashion Week 2009.
Fashion Gives Back highlighted one of the multi-media approaches History Starts Now uses to inform people of the dangers of child trafficking. The benefit raised consciousness and funds to help the cause.
For more information regarding History Starts Now, visit HistoryStartsNow.info.
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