Huishan Zhang Supports Female War Survivors with New Visual Portfolio
FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Fashion designer Huishan Zhang has released the visual portfolio “Lessons We’ve Learned in Lockdown” that features friends and collaborators of the brand to support the British charity organization Women for Women International and its “Sponsor a Sister” program.
For the series, Djuna Bel, Natalia Bonifacci, Natalie Joos and Ramya Giangola in Los Angeles; Chloe Gosselin in Las Vegas; Taylor Tomasi Hill in Dallas, Tex.; Linda Rodin, Frances Aaternir, Luisana Gonzalez and Alessandra Codinha in New York, and Gala Gordon, Anna Vitiello and Alessia Pasin in London were photographed and interviewed to share insight and a moment of reflection on their past year.
For example, Giangola, who is the founder of the retail and brand consultancy Gogoluxe, said she has “learned to appreciate being still for a moment, to take pleasure from simple things that before I have taken for granted.” The actress Gordon said the pandemic has given her the ambition to transform lives and contribute to society.
Zhang said 2020 gave everyone a chance to pause and to take a moment as a brand and think about how he could do something to support women who were living in marginalized countries affected by war and conflict during these times.
“We have long admired the incredible work that Women for Women International has done over the years. We wanted to collaborate with our global community of strong women to hear from them about their journeys this year and what has proven to be important to them, with the aim of inspiring wider audiences to provide hope and positivity as well as a sense of global community during this time,” he said.
“We wanted to celebrate these women, their individual lives, and stories while supporting Women for Women International. Being involved in the Sponsor a Sister program is a way of helping those in war-torn countries and we hope this is the beginning of a long-term partnership,” he added.
Women for Women International supports marginalized women living in countries affected by war and conflict helping to rebuild their lives, and more recently, during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Through its “Sponsor a Sister” program, women survivors of war learn skills such as tailoring, breadmaking or poultry-keeping, to earn money, regain their confidence, and actively participate in their communities, through a 12-month holistic training program. When a woman joins the program, she comes together with 24 other women, forming a tight support group that helps to break the isolation caused by war and insecurity.
Since 1993, Women for Women International has supported more than half a million of the most socially excluded women survivors of war in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan.
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