Courtesy of Saint Louis Fashion Fund
Jessica Conick, regional director of Fashion Group International–St. Louis, and Susan Sherman, co-founder of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund and Merch, were discussing how they could add to helping St. Louisans stay connected by providing programs and resources to the community. "We saw the #314Together movement that The Women's Creative had started and how amazing it was especially in promoting the restaurant industry in St. Louis," says Conick, whose organization works to cultivate the local fashion community through programming and events.
Now, the fashion community has launched its own campaign, #314FASHION, similar to the #314Together movement, to spread awareness for the local fashion industry and band together to support affected businesses. So far, they've already gained support from the likes of The Women's Creative, Experience Booklet, Lusso Boutique, and 2Lu.
"We're sort of a nerve center for fashion is what I call it–we're sort of a hub, so this is where things like this get started," says Sherman. "This really came out of conversations with a friend in Fashion Group International, with the boutique, Lusso, who did these adorable T-shirts, and with several others who are just kind of struggling right now and trying to find their way as most businesses are in this time."
The local fashion industry alone is responsible for bringing 3.3 billion dollars to St. Louis every year. To relieve businesses during this economic struggle, Courtney Winet, the designer of the #314TOGETHER T-shirts, collaborated with Lusso Boutique and 2Lu to design #314FASHION T-shirts, which are available online at both boutiques. Shirts are priced at $24 and stickers are priced at $5. Half of the proceeds from each T-shirt will go toward benefitting the Gateway Resilience Fund, a fund designed to add relief to small businesses during this time.
"We were once an epicenter of fashion, one of the fashion capitals. We really have the opportunity to bring St. Louis to the crop of fashion internationally again and that's what we were working on in the Fashion Fund for years and continue to work on," Sherman says. "[Fashion] is again a very, very serious business and a very big part of our economy here so we're hopeful that people will support it."
To kick off this campaign, some well-known figures will sport the #314FASHION shirts to show their support, including model Devon Windsor, New York–based menswear designer Timo Weiland, Derek Blasberg, Al Roker, and Deborah Roberts among others.
St. Louisans can show their support by purchasing their own shirt, donating to the campaign, or simply posting about their favorite local brands and boutiques on social media using #314FASHION. The Saint Louis Fashion Fund has also created an evolving list of more than 100 small fashion businesses in the area for people to check out.
"I think that sometimes we don't give ourselves credit for how amazing St Louis is, and there's such a supportive community in St. Louis—not just in this industry but in so many industries," says Conick. "I'm hoping that we come out of this knowing how much we are able to support each other."
