UCOF Empowers through Giving Back

OK, Fashion Weeks for spring 2015 in New York, London, Milan, and Paris are over. And though there were spectacular collections from Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Monique Lhuillier, Hood by Air, Carlos Campos, Nicolas Ghesquiere for Dior, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Libertine, Exteberria, Givenchy and others, there was also lots of lackluster collections to go around.

What was also evident about the spring 2015 collections is that the fashion industry as a whole is still a gated community, so to speak, and difficult to navigate if you are not from a family of means. With industry entry-level jobs paying in the low 30ks, only trust fund kids or scions of fashion industry insiders can survive the current landscape of low wages, long hours, and market saturation.

United Colors of Fashion (UCOF) seeks to change that.  Since 2012, this educational, empowerment advocacy organization has targeted under-resourced and underserved New York City Youth who have a passion for the fashion industry. The UCOF Academy is the first registered 501 (c) 3 organization in the United States to offer free-of-charge fashion education to underserved youth. The organization’s Student Training Arts and Design (STAND) program gives students the opportunity to acquire skills training in fashion PR, marketing, production, fashion design, fashion merchandising, and global fashion. Since inception the project has assisted over 350 students in gaining access to institutions of higher learning and facilitated the allocation of scholarships to them.

Each October UCOF holds an annual fundraising gala that honors key professional in the fashion industry but also gives its students an opportunity to put to use all the skills they have in the UCOF symposiums, workshops and mentoring programs. Past honorees have included Pat Cleveland, Fern Mallis, Dionne Warwick, Nigel Barker, and Philip Block.

This season the honorees are Devyn Abdullah, the first winner of “The Face,” technology innovator, Meck Khalfan, and luxury designer and “Project Runway” alumni Malan Breton. Celebrity fashion photographer/reality TV personality Mike Ruiz and chief meteorologist for “NBC for New York” Janice Huff will host the 2014 gala with runway designs by David Tlale, Malan Breton, Ampora Chorda, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Benny Martin, and Loin Cloth & Ashes.

One step at a time, with agency and deliberation, UCOF is helping the fashion industry expand its breath and scope. And in just a short time, the organization has helped over 350 students get closer to their dream of a career in the fashion industry.

It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, UCOF is taking that adage one-step farther, providing mentorship and training for those who need it most.

For more information, go to unitedcolorsoffashion.org.

—William S. Gooch