Inform. Think. Inspire. Feel. Challenge. Innovate. Declare. Truth.
Social Atelier launched their globally conscious organic clothing line on Thursday, June 14th at the Tandus Design Center in Culver City. Designers Andrei Nejjar and Yael Afriat have created a debut collection of t-shirts that feature socially focused slogans such as ‘Stop Genocide’, ’39 18 33′, ‘Thailand Pakistan Indonesia New Orleans 2006’. Social Atelier will be carried exclusively by Fred Segal Man in Santa Monica, with 50% of the profits generated going to the Solar Cooker Project, a non-profit that enhances the safety of women in Darfur refugee camps through supplying raw materials and infrastructure for the in-camp manufacturing of solar-powered stoves.
Social Atelier believes in the power of combining fashion with raw poetic truth. The company’s manifesto states that they use "sleek cutting edge fashion…to communicate the unbiased truth" and "broadcast what is happening in the world." The manifesto further declares that "we do not make opinions about the facts. We express them to make you aware." Each design in the collection communicates and stands for a single cause, including global warming, war, body image, genocide, gay marriage, poverty, and AIDS.
Social Atelier partnered with other socially conscious companies for Thursday’s event, which included complimentary acai cocktails from VeeV spirits, organic beer from Peak Brewery, Izze sparkling juices, and organic hors d’oeuvres from Tender Greens restaurant. John Collazos’ giant photographs of the collection were displayed on the venue’s walls and the servers and bartenders from LA’s Finest playfully sported painted versions of the Social Atelier slogans on their bodies.
Photographers lined the event’s green carpet where MySpace conducted filmed interviews of guests such as actor/musician Marques Houston and musician Ollie Stone of The Oohlas. NBA basketball star Tyson Chandler, of the New Orleans Hornets, showed up rocking a Social Atelier t-shirt on his 7’1" frame. Other notable guests included Laura O’Connor, the producer of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, Janice Reznik from Jewish World Watch, Rachel Andres from the Solar Cooker Project, Joey Gonzales from Fred Segal Man, Rebecca McQuigg from the Creative Artists Agency, and Jen Egan from GenArt. Social Atelier’s designers Yael Afriat and Andrei Nejjar were omnipresent, as were the brand’s spokesmodels Mary Jane Snow and Bartolo. The rest of the event’s estimated 700 attendees included parents out with their teenage children and a strong showing of up-and-coming actors, musicians, poets, models, and designers, "supporting the cause, supporting themselves," as one aspiring actress put it. This honest spirit of conscious capitalism permeated through all facets of the event and created a light atmosphere of personal and global ambition.
This was a night that demonstrated the exponential power of brand fusion. Social Atelier, Fred Segal Man, VeeV, Izze, Peak Organic, Tender Greens, LA’s Finest, GenArt, DYG, Citywide, The Lighter Side, Michael Smith Music, Tandus, MySpace, Solar Cooker Project, in a symbiotic dance of promotion, profit, and international empowerment. And taking everyone along for the ride.
For more information on Social Atelier check out their website at:
www.socialatelier.com
To learn more about the Solar Cooker Project go to:
www.jewishworldwatch.org/donate/solarcookerproject.html
Video from the event will soon be available at: impact.myspace.com
