Lady LUX

On Oct. 7, fashion designer Cynthia Rowley held the first Shop in a Shop for FEED, the global food relief organization founded by Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson. The event took place at Rowley’s charming West Village store in New York City. The chilly October night formed the perfect backdrop for the hip crowd that sauntered in, sipping on champagne and snacking on puffed pastry hors d’oeuvres as they perused the FEED Projects’ goods situated at the back of the store. The dressing rooms had been transformed into a FEED Projects shop, dubbed appropriately the “FEED Shop-in-a-Shop.”

The night was a perfect melding of fashion and philanthropy. FEED Projects’ mission is to reach hungry children all over the world through the sale of their bags. Their designs have taken many forms beyond the burlap tote—such as a health backpack, DOP bag and the FEED/READ 3 bag, among others.

The organization’s funds are administered via the U.N. World Food Program’s school-feeding operations. Ellen Gustafson, co-founder and executive vice president of FEED Projects, was all too happy to come out for the cause. Gustafson also functions as executive director of the FEED Foundation, the broader nonprofit aimed at school-feeding programs that support education and that provide crucial nutrition to malnourished kids, both on a domestic and an international level.

With more than 400 million hungry children throughout the world, the FEED Foundation aims to provide school, agricultural and other nutrition-related programs to aid those in need. Since 2007, the FEED Foundation and FEED Projects have helped to supply 50 million meals to school children around the globe.

Gustafson ran into Bush in 2006 while working at the United Nations World Food Program as a spokeswoman and humanitarian aid worker. When they met, Bush told Gustafson of her bag idea for FEED, which Gustafson thought was a great proposition, the executive VP said.

“Ellen was one of the only young people I met who got my idea for the (FEED bag),” Bush said. “So we launched FEED Projects and started selling in 2007.”

The organization started to get real traction after Lauren Bush, George W. Bush’s niece, started carrying the burlap tote bag with the word “FEED” emblazoned on its side.

“I had the feedbag idea as a student in college,” Bush said.

During her travels with the U.N. World Food Program, Bush would return home frustrated, not knowing what to do and not knowing what to tell others to do, either.

“World hunger seems such a faraway problem that people in poor countries have to deal with, not something one is met with here,” she said.

Her solution: Create a reusable bag that would stand out and do good. The proceeds from the bag would feed one school child for an entire year.

From the get-go, FEED Projects took off.

Amazon.com Inc. was the first to sell FEED’s goods. To date, the organization has sold more than 600,000 bags, raised more than $6 million and donated 55 million meals, with the number increasing daily.

“Embedded in the price of the bag and their other products is a donation to the organization,” Gustafson said as she carried the FEED Trick or Treat bag that supports Trick or Treat for UNICEF.

“For a mere $3.50 for this bag, you support a program of the U.N. that gives each child enough micronutrients for a year. The second you buy the product, you make this happen,” she said.

And how did Bush and Gustafson team up with Rowley?

“Lauren was shopping here, we met, and I started learning about FEED Projects. I soon learned it’s not a project, it’s a life!” Rowley said.

The two took to each other instantly and kicked off a joint venture in the Hamptons with a pop-up FEED Projects shed out behind Rowley’s store in Montauk, N.Y.

Appropriately, the FEED T-shirt made its debut at Rowley’s store that evening of Oct. 7.

“It’s made in Africa of organic cotton, so it’s super soft,” Gustafson said. “The shirt will supply 10 school meals to children in the areas we serve.”

The FEED bags are also eco-friendly, made from 100-percent organic cotton, natural burlap or recycled plastic-based nylon, all sustainable, with the hang tags made from post-consumer recycled paper. FEED bags are also available on the HSN website, as well as on FEEDProjects.com. Plus the company has just launched FEED USA with the Gap, which is their latest program to increase school food all across the United States.

Even though more women seem to be gravitating to FEED’s products, Gustafson and Bush would love men to jump on the bandwagon. After all, men wear clothes and use bags too. But the fashion benefit of pairing with Rowley is not lost on Gustafson or Bush.

Adding a garment to their collection of FEED goods dovetailed nicely with the racks of Rowley’s once-again-delightful Fall collection, looked through mostly by the female crowd. Rowley chatted with many as she made her way through the room. As always, Rowley was dressed to the nines (maybe even the tens) in a cool blue, cap-sleeve dress with her own patterned hosiery and appropriately slightly chunky heels.

“We love Cynthia,” Gustafson said. “I’m wearing all of her clothes. She’s such a great person and is such an inspiration.”

Bush and Gustafson have recently added staff to their organization and plan to keep it growing, all the while spreading the message – the most important part.

“People can buy the bag or the T-shirt. You know it’s a quick fix, and you know you have done something,” Bush said. “But I really want to use it to engage people, go to the next level, and create more of a FEED community.”

The FEED Projects Shop-in-a-Shop will remain “open” throughout the month of October.

Tagged in: lux exclusives, fashion, charity, bags, hunger,

Radar