Retailer collecting clothing for a cause

To women who have escaped the sex-trafficking industry, new clothes can be a powerful gift.

“You might think, ‘It’s just clothing,’ but it’s so much more than that,” said Kayla Hunter, manager of free fab’rik, a nonprofit arm of the fab’rik chain that bills itself as the purveyor of stylish but affordable women’s clothing.

The organization is known for collecting clothes and accessories in order to put on free shopping sprees for trafficking survivors at safe houses or other venues.

“It’s about taking that next step in their journey,” Hunter said. “Some girls come into safe houses with nothing but the clothes on their back, and those are usually tight dresses or club attire.

“We provide beautiful clothing for them that makes them feel comfortable when they wear it. And seeing their transformation and having them telling me how much the clothing meant to then, it can be overwhelming.”

Fab’rik was founded in 2002 in Atlanta by Dana Spinola; free fab’rik followed seven years later.

The nonprofit helps owners of the chain’s 42 stores — including the one at 4191 Worth Ave., just east of Easton Town Center — partner with local organizations that work with women escaping sex trafficking, domestic abuse, addiction or other hardships.

Since 2009, Hunter said, the sprees have helped more than 3,000 women.

Sex traffickers use violence and other forms of coercion to compel adults and children to engage in commercial sex acts. In 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline fielded 6,081 reports of sex trafficking. In Ohio,