Studio one eighty nine5/7/2023 It’s a place where women who have been the victim of horrible atrocities go after they have been to the hospital… they go to rehabilitate and to learn or be re-taught certain skills in order to help them live their lives in the community. What I loved about the COJ is that it’s a leadership center. The COJ is a project with Vday, Eve Ensler’s organization dedicated to stopping violence against women and rape. Then in 2011, Rosario invited me on a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (to Bukavu) for the opening of the city of joy. I need to be more committed because that’s what the community and the work required. So when I would have time on my vacations, I would come home to Ghana and do like a work/volunteer vacation for several weeks… I worked with Global Mamas for example as I really like the work that they are doing with the women… but it wasn’t enough. Why are we not receiving the same accolades? It seemed like people were doing so much great work but hitting a glass ceiling and we felt like their was so much creativity and innovation… we wanted to be a part of the process of seeing it grow. Then when I would travel here in Africa, or visit my family in Ghana, I would see so much amazing craftsmanship and wonder…. I respected and was inspired greatly by the work that they are doing and by how much the community around them, their country and the world really valued the “made in italy” label. I really love luxury as I love the principles upon which it stands… commitment to quality, excellence, craftsmanship, the artisans etc… I valued greatly the time that I spent at Bottega Veneta where I was able to travel and meet 2nd and 3rd generation artisans. I have worked for Hermes, Cesare Paciotti and most recently, Bottega Veneta which is part of the Gucci Group family now called Kering Group (they also own Gucci, Puma, Yves Saint Laurent etc). I have been working in the fashion industry for roughly 18 years. I went on in my career to work for various luxury brands. She went on to model for Vogue, Harper’s, Ladies Home Journal, Halston etc… She showed me that fashion can be a powerful engine for social change. So she found a photographer that was willing to take her picture and ended up on the cover of the Sunday Style Section of the New York Times in 1967 and then landed the cover of Life magazine in 1969 spearheading the “black is beautiful movement”. My mother’s younger sister, Naomi Sims, moved to NY in the 60s and tried to model and they would not let her because they said she was too dark and too African looking. I am American on my mother’s side from Mississppi and on my dad’s side I am from Ghana and Ivory Coast. In addition to Rosario, I have always been inspired by my family. How she uses her voice and her medium as a platform to give voice to those that otherwise may be unheard. I have always been inspired by her and the work that she does for others. She has done so much that the world will never know. She has been a social-activist and philanthropist since she was a child. Rosario and I had been talking about doing a project like this for a very long time. Where did the idea behind Studio One Eighty Nine come from? Who was involved in the process?
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