To Help Save Lives of Mothers and Babies in Haiti
Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief™, a spectacular charity fashion show and auction, is back for 2010, taking centre stage at the British Fashion Council's official London Fashion Week show venue, at Somerset House, on 18th February. This year Fashion For Relief™ will be held in aid of The White Ribbon Alliance as it advocates for the health needs and rights of women and girls around the world, especially supporting its partners in Haiti at this time to rebuild the healthcare system for mothers and babies.
The White Ribbon Alliance, whose Global Patron is Sarah Brown, is an international coalition of organisations and individuals, active from grassroots to government and international level, saving the lives of pregnant women and newborn babies where needed around the world.
Funds raised at Fashion For Relief™ will go towards making sure mothers and babies are at the heart of the Haiti's new health system, and to ensuring that this essential work continues in other countries where women are at risk of dying when they give birth.
Fashion For Relief™ will bring together, on the catwalk, top international faces of fashion, music, film, TV, sports and society. The show will feature glamorous clothes by the world's most renowned and respected fashion designers including Vivienne Westwood, Jaeger, Alexander McQueen and Dolce & Gabbana.
Extensive support for this year's Fashion For Relief has come from a variety of sponsors including the British jeweller, Stephen Webster.
With tickets on sale to the public, this show is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the thrill of London Fashion Week up close and personal, while supporting an extremely important and worthy cause.
Naomi Campbell says, ''I am honored to be working with Sarah Brown and the White Ribbon Alliance on this year's Fashion For ReliefTM. I am deeply saddened by the recent tragedy in Haiti. So many have been killed and severely affected by the earthquake - women and children in particular are most vulnerable in disasters. Fashion is universal, personal and touches everyone. Our aim is to use this year's London Fashion Week catwalk to reach people and help raise crucial funds to help save the lives of women and children.''
In Haiti 37,000 pregnant women now face giving birth in dangerous, unsanitary conditions. White Ribbon Alliance's partner organisation IPPF is currently struggling to meet the overwhelming need for basic healthcare services. IPPF's clinics, which are based in the communities most affected by the earthquake, have been severely damaged. A number of health clinics are operating from tents, with additional mobile bus clinics from the Dominican Republic into Haiti. Necessities such as staff, medical supplies and diesel fuel are needed in such crisis situations, where women and children's health needs and physical safety are at much greater risk.
Fashion for Relief™ will also be supporting the White Ribbon Alliance's partner organisation The Haiti Hospital Appeal. Their vision is to build a new hospital for mothers and children. As a temporary measurement they have provided an ambulance service on rescue missions to Port-au-Prince, which has mobilised medical services in Cap Hatien for 24-hour provision of health care for casualties brought up to the North. Their aim is to see the Harbour in Cap Hatien become a bridgehead for relief to Port-au-Prince and a supply channel for refugees who have chosen to migrate to the north.
White Ribbon Alliance Patron, Sarah Brown, says ''The British public have been amazingly generous in its response to the tragedy in Haiti. Your donations are already making a massive difference and we can still do more. In the next four weeks, approximately 7,000 Haitian women will give birth and with limited medical assistant following the recent disaster, there is a huge risk of death and injury for Mums and newborns. The White Ribbon Alliance and our affiliates are delighted to have the support of Fashion For ReliefTM – with its help and yours, we can prevent needless deaths in pregnancy and childbirth, and ensure that babies born in Haiti in the coming weeks are a source of hope for families which have already been through so much.''
Fashion For Relief has teamed up with Net-A-Porter, to host exclusive sales of the designer clothes modelled on the catwalk. The clothes will be available for purchase from 15th March on www.net-a-porter.com.
Harold Tillman, Chairman of the British Fashion Council commenting on Fashion For Relief™ says: ''The British Fashion Council is delighted to support the White Ribbon Alliance by hosting this event at London Fashion Week. We have no doubt that Naomi's event will be a huge success and will provide necessary support to save the lives of many women and babies in Haiti.''
Vivienne Westwood has designed a limited edition T-shirt for Fashion For ReliefTM which will be sold exclusively at the event, on www.viviennewestwood.com and in the Vivienne Westwood Conduit Street and World's End stores following the show.
Tickets for the event will be available to the public through Ticketweb, book online at www.ticketweb.co.uk, call: 08444 77 1000. For this exclusive event, front row tickets cost £650, second row seats cost £400 and all other seats are £75.
For more information on this appeal visit, www.whiteribbonalliance.org
For press information, please contact: The Outside Organisation
Gemma Waters – gemma.waters@outside-org.co.uk or 0207 436 3633
For information on The White Ribbon Alliance please contact:
Katy Woods – 0207 922 7797
For more information about Fashion for Relief please visit
www.whiteribbonalliance.org/
To buy tickets for the event please visit www.ticketweb.co.uk
