Fashion Industry Rallies Around Darfur
Feb. 12, 2007 — -- The fashion industry let its hair down Friday night and showed that true beauty is not just skin deep, even in the world of fashion.
Wrapping up a jam-packed week of dozens of high profile shows, some of the top designers and models ended Fashion Week on a high note by attending a charity show that brought attention to the Darfur region of Sudan.
The event, "Designers for Darfur," was born when designer Malcolm Harris and model Lydia Hearst decided to increase awareness of the horrific genocide taking place in the small East African country of Sudan.
The number of people killed in Sudan is staggering and may be a devastating preview of what happened in Rwanda, where more than a half a million people were killed in just 100 days in 1994 as the ethnic groups Hutus and Tutsis sought to exterminate each other.
The killings in Darfur are rapidly approaching Rwanda-like figures. Since 2003, at least 400,000 people have been killed in the Darfur region and more than two million civilians have been forced to flee their homes. The displaced have been subjected to rape, starvation and mass slaughter.
Hoping to prevent another Rwanda, Harris and Hearst spearheaded an event to bring the fashion industry together to bring attention to this cause. They created a free show open to the general public that incorporated the colors of Africa into its clothing designs. The dresses will be available on eBay to purchase in a live auction with the proceeds going directly to Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 170 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations.
Harris, outfitted in a shirt reading "Darfur is Real, Don't wait for the movie," said his inspiration for the event came from knowing about the atrocities happening in another part of Africa and his will to make sure it doesn't occur in the Sudan.
"I was particularly moved by Darfur because after being well aware of the situation that happened in Rwanda it was almost like we had a blueprint of something that had already taken place, and this is even more horrific," he said. "I figured we could all get together and brainstorm solutions that could change this and help these people."
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