Non-profit Invisible Children Is Set To Launch: Mend Fall/holiday 2009 Starting A Fashion Mutiny By Giving High Style A Soul

The grassroots organization, Invisible Children, has dramatically transformed the non-profit establishment. End Quote

"A socially conscious marketplace is on the rise," said Marie Havens, MEND's Director of Design and Product Development.

New York, NY (1888PressRelease) May 26, 2009 - Invisible Children has inspired the world through groundbreaking documentary work, award-winning on-line and interactive experiences, record breaking youth rallies, nationally recognized educational programs, partnerships within Hollywood’s most elite and influential circles, and, of course, their internationally recognized bracelet program which has raised well over 1.5 million dollars.

Now, Invisible Children has set its sights on the fashion industry, hoping to inspire a fashion mutiny and encourage consumers to ask: Who made this bag?

MEND is a new fashion and retail endeavor from Invisible Children and is set to officially launch 09.01.09 – but due to eager consumers will present an initial launch preview 04.26.09 following Invisible Children’s “The Rescue” world-wide event. MEND is designed to seam a personal, emotional connection between products, their creators, and their customers.

Today, in a small country in Eastern Africa the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel militia bent on gaining political power, has been abducting and abusing thousands of young, innocent girls. Inside their militia camps these young girls are forced into slavery, abused with sex and hard labor. Those lucky enough to escape this nightmare return to northern Uganda, hoping to forget these atrocities and move on with their lives. Unfortunately, many experience neglect and ridicule from the communities they return to because of their newfound affiliation with the rebels. During their rehabilitation these girls are taught to sew, giving them a tangible skill to help provide subsistence for their families. As more and more women escape these camps and learn to sew, the marketplace becomes more flooded, weakening the demand for their skills and ultimately presenting another challenge to their already substantially compromised existence. MEND, as a program, can and will provide these women in Uganda and, eventually, other afflicted regions worldwide with an opportunity to turn their skills into a craft, as well as present a platform for these women to experience one of their life’s most elusive of emotions – EMPOWERMENT.

“The sophisticated and stylish handbags will not only provide a new way of life for the women in developing areas of the world, but for consumers as well,” said Jason Russell, co-founder Invisible Children, Inc.
MEND plans to form partnerships with major fashion companies, designers, photographers, and artists to create incredible products not only limited to accessories. MEND is already breaking ground through their collaboration with iconic ad agency Cliff Freeman & Partners.

“A socially conscious marketplace is on the rise," said Marie Havens, MEND's Director of Design and Product Development. "What makes MEND unique is the see-it-to-believe-it transparency through media." Each handbag's label includes the name of the woman who personally made it, while an interactive website [set to launch Spring 2009] with media, photographs, bios, & documentary films will allow the world an unprecedented view into each woman, the products they create, and their powerful story.

Havens, a NYC-based designer and photojournalist, graduated from the world-renowned Parsons New School of Design with the distinguished Designer of the Year award and designed Gap and Bono’s first and highly revolutionary "Product Red" accessories line. She is currently establishing MEND at Invisible Children's new NYC-based studio & overseeing the MEND sewing facilities & team in Uganda.

“I have designed within the fashion industry for nearly a decade and I’ve never seen a company as devoted and passionate as I have with Invisible Children & MEND. We are creating not only an iconic, new accessories brand… we are creating a revolutionary approach to design and our symbolic relationship to what we adorn ourselves with,“ states Havens. Always at the forefront, MEND is also developing a microeconomic platform for growing organic cotton in war-torn Uganda. MEND and the Cotton Initiative will combine their efforts to establish a true grow-to-sew model that will help bring the region out of two decades of war.

MEND is proof that what you wear can - and will - make a difference.

Contact:
Marie Havens, Director of Design & Product Development
marie ( @ ) invisiblechildren dot com / studio: 347 dot 599 dot 2944

http://mend.invisiblechildren.com

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