Role models: runway stars donate their designer clothes to help raise money for a good cause
If you’ve ever wanted to dress like a supermodel, well, now is your chance. When she’s not starring in Spider-Man: Far
From Home, German actress and model Toni Garrn is hard at work organising the annual Supermodel Flea Market, an initiative she set up in New York in 2015.
This year’s event, which kicks off today, promises to be the biggest to date. Up for auction are clothes donated by Naomi Campbell, sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, Gisele Bundchen, Joan Smalls and Garrn herself.
The Supermodel Flea Market sale came about because, as a model, Garrn soon realised her wardrobe and those of her friends were overflowing with beautiful clothes and accessories that most women would love to get their hands on.
Having already spent time in Africa working on various modelling jobs, Garrn had seen first-hand how tough life was for many women and girls across the continent. Faced with the bleak reality of sub-Saharan regions having the highest school drop-out rate for girls anywhere in the world, Garrn experienced her eureka moment.
The model-turned-activist decided these wardrobes full of expensive clothes could be put to better use and set about asking fellow models to donate pieces to a sale to raise money. The first Supermodel Flea Market charity sale, held in 2015, raised a cool $20,000 (Dh73,500) in one evening and its hostess established the Toni Garrn Foundation a year later to better help the distribution of funds. Suddenly, she found herself spearheading a force for change.
Speaking about the project in an interview with online magazine Hashtag Legend in 2017, Garrn explained: “I’d been working with Plan International, supporting girls in Africa, and wanted to raise money to help make school life safer and easier to access for young girls. The sale came about because my closet was just overflowing. I think every girl’s closet in New York is. Working in fashion, we’re lucky enough to be gifted lots of items. Meanwhile, so many people all over the world have one T-shirt they live in, so I thought it was the perfect way to share.”
The launch event was so well received that, in 2017, it expanded to London, Paris and Berlin, with the likes of Campbell and Kate Moss
The brands at this year’s Supermodel Flea Market include Prada, Chanel, Roger Vivier, Givenchy, Vionnet and Supreme
emptying their wardrobes in support. Even Liv Tyler, Elie Saab and Kim Kardashian have donated one-off items. To date, the event has raised tens of thousands of dollars.
This year, the Supermodel Flea Market has partnered with e-commerce site Paddle8 for the first time, which will help co-ordinate multiple online and offline events until Saturday, November 30. To help raise funds for healthcare and education initiatives for women and girls across Burundi, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda, everyone has dug deep. Bundchen has had a spring clean and donated 50 pieces, including the Alexander McQueen knuckleduster clutch she carried to the Met Gala in 2011, while Gigi Hadid has gone all out, gifting more than 100 items.
Between them, Bundchen, Campbell, Garrn, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Karlie Kloss and Amber Valletta, among others, have sent across 220 pieces from brands including Prada, Chanel, Roger Vivier, Givenchy, Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Miu Miu, Vionnet, Viktor & Rolf, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Supreme and Victoria Beckham for Target. In short, this is a fashion lover’s dream.
Held at the 11 Howard Hotel in New York, the event takes the form of a pop-up store where shoppers can pick up their treasures from among the 1,000 or so items offered.
The more upscale and expensive pieces will be available to buy online via a virtual shop that vows to replenish stock three times in the next few months, while 15 to 20 of the most exclusive items will be auctioned to the highest bidder. With the double lure of being high fashion and having been owned by a supermodel, we expect bidding on these items to be fast and furious.
For the merely curious, the venue will throw open its doors to the public for the auction preview between Friday, September 13 and Sunday, September 15. Thankfully, there’s no need to worry about getting carried away and accidentally selling the house to buy a handbag, as serious bidders and VIPs will be invited to see the collection the day before. Still, there’s no reason you can’t have your eye on Bundchen’s gala-worthy McQueen.