HESHIMA KENYA FASHION CHALLENGES RAISES $60,000 FOR REFUGEE WOMEN AND CHILDREN

It was an evening of fashion and fundraising at Heshima Kenya’s annual Fashion Challenge which raised $60,000 to support refugee women and girls in Nairobi, Kenya. Emceed by Julie Hightower, the event featured the work of Heshima Kenya’s social enterprise, the Maisha Collective, where refugee women learn to make unique, hand-dyed scarves. As part of the challenge, local designers Demis Emmir, Fraley Le, Michelle Tan, Lagi Nadeau, Lauren Lein, Elda De La Rosa, and Anastasia Chatzka were asked to create an original and wearable item to be judged by members of Chicago’s fashion community during a live showcase.

Femme mixing deejay and producer Amy dB, composed and played original music while models walked the runway. Each designer shared their inspiration for the piece they created to the 200+ guests in the sold-out room. Heshima girls, Sahro Moalim and Osop Abdi, shared their personal stories and thanked everyone for the support they have received.

Caitlin Rempalski (Louis Vuitton), Tara Klecka (personal stylist) and Nicole Townsend (Pretty in the Windy City) awarded Elda De La Rosa the 2015 Fashion Challenge winner for her exquisite gown design.

Before and after the fashion show program, guests enjoyed cocktails and appetizers and were quite busy purchasing scarves and jewelry from Heshima Kenya’s Maisha Collective collection.

“The 2015 Fashion Challenge was a sparkling celebration of Heshima Kenya’s Maisha Collective,” explains Alisa Roadcup, Executive Director of Heshima Kenya. “The fashion community really turned out to support Chicago designers and empower the refugee women and girls Heshima serves. It was a beautiful expression of Chicago fashion meeting philanthropy in the most meaningful of ways.”

Heshima Kenya is an award-winning NGO based in Chicago and Nairobi that specializes in identifying and protecting unaccompanied and separated refugee children, girls, young women and their children living in Nairobi, Kenya. From countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi, these young refugees have experienced the detrimental effects of war, the loss of their families, and in many cases, kidnapping, rape, trafficking, unlawful detainment, and torture. Heshima Kenya provides them with shelter, education, vocational training, case management support and advocacy. www.heshimakenya.org

All designs featured in the Fashion Challenge are up for auction and available for purchase at http://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/home.cfm?auctionID=6373.