Miami, FL - DesignLabGive (DLG), in cooperation with Nuage Designs and the Citadel’s Pivot Market will host Turning Tables, a unique fashion fundraiser. The event will highlight pieces created by teen designers with “upcycled” couture linens. All proceeds will support GIRLS.period, an innovative, youth lead project with the goal of empowering women in Kenya, Africa with life changing skills and opportunities.
Turning Tables guests will enjoy snacks and drinks, raffle prizes and entertainment as they help fund this worthy humanitarian cause. Nuage Designs, a Miami based couture linen rental company, donated specialty fabrics for this project. The young DLG designers have spent hours creating garments from these unique materials in preparation for the fundraiser. The Citadel’s Pivot Market, the first sustainable retail market in the US, has generously provided the venue for this event.
DLG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Miami, Florida, that provides creative sewing and fashion design programs for at risk youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their work strives to spark creativity and self-reliance. DLG was born in 2017, when Angie Cohen, the founder of DesignLab Miami, realized her vision, “My dream was to GIVE knowledge and ability to women who need it and want it but didn’t believe they could have it.” In just two short years, DLG has successfully partnered with local organizations, including Lotus House and Breakthrough Miami, to bring skills, creativity, and opportunities to deserving women. Internationally, the DLG team has partnered with The JuanFe Foundation and Fundación Acción Interna in Colombia to introduce at risk teenage girls to the art of fashion and design. The success of both programs motivated DesignLab Give founders to extend their international reach even further to Africa.
DLG CoFounder, Paula Villamizar, shares, “Our aim is simple, to change the cycle of poverty, through creativity for as many women as possible, one person at a time.” With funds raised from Turning Tables, the DLG team will travel to Africa to initiate the GIRLS.period project. The young, impoverished women of this area have extremely limited access to basic feminine hygiene products. The student designers have created a reusable sanitary pad prototype and are eager to teach young Kenyan women how to produce it. The ultimate goal is that the local women will sell the product and monetize the concept as well as the new skills they will acquire.
DLG is partnering with two other nonprofit organizations already active in East Africa, Dream Sponsors and One Way Out, Inc. Sanguinetti & Company, who promotes trade linkages between Africa and the USA and will coordinate logistics for the trip, brought the three organizations together.
Turning Tables will take place on Saturday December 14th at the Citadel (8300 Northeast 2nd Avenue). Doors open at 4:00 p.m. and the fashion show main event will begin at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite or at the door for a (suggested) donation of $20. After the show, all featured garments will be available for purchase and will be custom fit to the buyer. If you are interested in supporting the GIRLS.period project and/or DLG, please contact Paula Villamizar at 305.992.5698, or visit the GO FUND ME page. For more information on the mentioned organizations visit: www.designlabgive.org; www.dreamsponsorsinc.org; www.onewayoutkenya.com
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