Last week, October 22, Mercy For Animals partnered with vegan fashion brand and garden studio Flora Animalia for a virtual fundraising event, A Garden Fashion Story.
Through this collaboration, we wanted to shed light on the connections between fashion, our food system, and the environment. The fashion industry is responsible for roughly 8 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Animal agriculture accounts for nearly 15 percent. These two industries play major roles in climate change, deforestation, and land degradation through mono crops grown for feed and fiber.
The event featured an inspiring, insightful conversation between Mercy For Animals president Leah Garcés and Flora Animalia founder Rozae Nichols, a passionate vegan and globally renowned designer whose work has attracted celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, and Natalie Portman. Rozae said:
When we are in the practice of edible gardening, these large-scale chronic issues become front and center to our consciousness, and we more clearly recognize the broken global food system. Growing food, if even only herbs and a fruit tree, helps us better understand and champion food justice and demand a more compassionate, cleaner food supply chain. This clarity can inspire us to challenge (boycott) industrial agriculture at all levels from factory land-animal and aquatic farms to exploitation of ocean sea life to GMO and mono crops.
Flora Animalia’s functional and beautiful gardening apparel was showcased in a stunning fashion film by Matt Mahurin, a celebrated director who has worked with U2, Metallica, Marilyn Manson, and many others. The video encourages us to pause and slow down to observe and connect with nature.
The virtual event ended with an engaging live Q&A with Rozae, Leah, and Madelynn De La Rosa, a vegan content creator who makes short films about sustainability.
The collaboration was also mentioned in a New York Times article about Rozae’s work:
To help bring the collection to life, she recruited her friend, the director Matt Mahurin, to create a video look book in partnership with Mercy for Animals, an organization aimed at ending factory farming. A portion of all Flora Animalia purchases go to the group. As Ms. Nichols sees it, gardening is a way to demonstrate a more empathetic, sustainable way to participate in the food system.
All proceeds from ticket sales benefit Mercy For Animals. And in connection with the event, we have a one-to-one matching opportunity for donations—up to $10,000!
Please contact [email protected] with questions about collaboration and sponsorship opportunities.