SEASON II
A collection imagined by Christian Louboutin, Sabrina & Idris Elba to support six non-profit organizations
On June 15th, 2022, Sabrina and Idris Elba and Christian Louboutin will launch the “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” Season II collection. Born from their friendship, the collection is an invitation to celebrate hope, empathy, and diversity and support education, the creative arts, and youth empowerment with 100% of the proceeds from the sales donated to six charities across the globe.
The collection
For this second season, the trio co-designed a two-chapter collection honoring their own origins and African cultural heritage. To continue the theme set by the Freedom flower in the first season, and as a tribute to Sabrina and Christian’s shared passion of flowers, the new collection features a floral pattern that combines three vivid flowers from the countries of origins of Sabrina and Idris Elba: the Protea flower (for Somalia), the Cotton tree (for Sierra Leone) and the Desert Rose (for Ghana).
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This season, the three friends use their voices to amplify the power of the creative arts, education, and youth development amongst all communities and have identified six organizations that are already creating an unbelievable difference in these areas:
Art Start, a creative arts organization based in the United States that uses the creative process to nurture the voices, hearts, and minds of historically marginalized youth.
CASA 93, an innovative, and free-of-charge fashion school in France, serving diverse and talented young adults from economically distressed and underserved communities.
AFRIKIDS, a leading organization in Ghana dedicated to keeping vulnerable children healthy, safe and in school.
The Raining Season, a charity based in Sierra Leone with a mission to provide orphaned children with hope, education, housing, and holistic care so that they will in turn bring hope for generations to come.
Elman Peace Center, an organization based in Somalia dedicated to promoting peace, cultivating leadership, and empowering the marginalized brackets of society to be decision makers in the processes that ensure their wellbeing.
Immediate Theatre, a organization based in Hackney, London involving communities in creative projects dear to Idris Elba who is also a patron. The organization also participated to the first season of the initiative.
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…ABOUT THE CHARITIES
Immediate theatre
Established in 1996 in London, Immediate Theatre involves communities in creative projects that inspire wellbeing, break down barriers and engage people in the process of personal and social change. Immediate Theatre’s vision is for a society where questioning, articulate and motivated people create and collaborate to build thriving communities.
Proceeds from the Walk A Mile in My Shoes Season II collection will support Immediate Theatre’s powerful work and several key initiatives including a 14-week schools tour reaching at least 1000 youth living in areas of social deprivation across London, expansion of their state-based Youth Theatre and employment program, and the establishment of a fund to help youth create and produce their own projects.
Casa 93
Born in the favelas in Brazil in 2005, and replicated in 2016 in Seine Saint-Denis in France, CASA 93, a social project of Modafusion, is an alternative, free-of-charge fashion school that offers education and training tailored to each creative’s profile and life path. CASA 93 is in an area known for its high rate of unemployment and its low rate of educational opportunities for young adults ages 18-25. Through CASA 93, creatives experiencing socio-economic and socio-emotional hardships have access to one-of-a-kind training, guidance, and networking opportunities with fashion professionals to which they would not otherwise have access.
Proceeds from the Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will support CASA 93’s unique mission, including the expansion of their professional development and career services program at Post Casa. Through Post Casa, alumni will be able to access free and ongoing career support services, educational workshops, and tools such as sewing machines and digital multimedia equipment to further secure their prospects for future employment.
The raining season
Since 2009, The Raining Season (TRS) has dedicated itself to providing a hopeful future for vulnerable and orphaned children as well as impoverished families in Sierra Leone. TRS operates a 24/7 childcare center in the capital city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, serving 90 children and employing over 65 Sierra Leonean families.
Proceeds from the Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will benefit the overall work of TRS including the expansion of their Roots program, which provides ongoing support to children who are out of the child care center through the provision of education, mentoring, vocational skills training and familial housing that includes a house mother and other young adults from the center. The Roots program is designed to “root” participants in their country by teaching them life skills that are needed to thrive.
Elman Peace Centre
Founded in Somalia in 1991, at the height of the civil war that continues to devastate communities to this day, the Elman Peace Centre - founded by Elman Ali Ahmed - introduced Somalia’s first community-based disarmament and reintegration program for youth being co-opted into armed groups by the warlords. After successfully disarming thousands of young women and men through his “Pick up the Pen, Drop the Gun” campaign where he offered alternative dignified livelihoods in exchange for exiting armed groups, he was assassinated in Somalia for his impact. The initiative is sustained today by his wife Fartuun Adan and their daughter Ilwad Elman. The Elman Peace Centre is a women and youth lead organization that operates throughout the most conflict laden regions of Somalia and has recently scaled its unique model for community-based peacebuilding to 9 different countries in Africa after being recognized as a global best practice of peace building during conflict.
The proceeds from the Season II of Walk a Mile In My Shoes collection will directly support young women and men disassociating from armed forces and groups in Somalia by giving them access to quality education, psychosocial support and counseling, alternative dignified livelihoods and will invest in character development through sports and arts to help them transition into civilian life as productive members of the community.
AfriKids
Founded in 2002, AfriKids is the leading organization for children in northern Ghana; working with communities to ensure that vulnerable children are healthy, safe and in school. Their award-winning projects are designed and delivered entirely by local people, using the simple philosophy of listening to communities and empowering them to make sustainable changes themselves. Because of AfriKids, 100,000+ people every year are healthy, safe and learning.
Proceeds from the Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will benefit the transformative work of AfriKids including their education programmes which ensure that vulnerable children - especially street children, children with disabilities and girls - receive a quality education so that they can transform not just their own futures, but their communities and the future of Ghana.
Art Start
Since 1991 Art Start has used the creative process to transform young lives by offering consistent workshops with long term partners, including youth organizations, schools, alternative sentencing programs, and residences for youth and families experiencing homelessness. Through Art Start, historically marginalized youth have a space to imagine, believe and represent their creative vision for their lives and communities.
Proceeds from Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will support the nationally recognized work of Art Start including their Creative Connections Program, which offers youth in any circumstance, the opportunity to access and participate in drop-in sessions, creative residencies, paid internships, college counseling, and high level networking opportunities.
Immediate theatre
Established in 1996 in London, Immediate Theatre involves communities in creative projects that inspire wellbeing, break down barriers and engage people in the process of personal and social change. Immediate Theatre’s vision is for a society where questioning, articulate and motivated people create and collaborate to build thriving communities.
Proceeds from the Walk A Mile in My Shoes Season II collection will support Immediate Theatre’s powerful work and several key initiatives including a 14-week schools tour reaching at least 1000 youth living in areas of social deprivation across London, expansion of their state-based Youth Theatre and employment program, and the establishment of a fund to help youth create and produce their own projects.
The raining season
Since 2009, The Raining Season (TRS) has dedicated itself to providing a hopeful future for vulnerable and orphaned children as well as impoverished families in Sierra Leone. TRS operates a 24/7 childcare center in the capital city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, serving 90 children and employing over 65 Sierra Leonean families.
Proceeds from the Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will benefit the overall work of TRS including the expansion of their Roots program, which provides ongoing support to children who are out of the child care center through the provision of education, mentoring, vocational skills training and familial housing that includes a house mother and other young adults from the center. The Roots program is designed to “root” participants in their country by teaching them life skills that are needed to thrive.
AfriKids
Founded in 2002, AfriKids is the leading organization for children in northern Ghana; working with communities to ensure that vulnerable children are healthy, safe and in school. Their award-winning projects are designed and delivered entirely by local people, using the simple philosophy of listening to communities and empowering them to make sustainable changes themselves. Because of AfriKids, 100,000+ people every year are healthy, safe and learning.
Proceeds from the Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will benefit the transformative work of AfriKids including their education programmes which ensure that vulnerable children - especially street children, children with disabilities and girls - receive a quality education so that they can transform not just their own futures, but their communities and the future of Ghana.
Casa 93
Born in the favelas in Brazil in 2005, and replicated in 2016 in Seine Saint-Denis in France, CASA 93, a social project of Modafusion, is an alternative, free-of-charge fashion school that offers education and training tailored to each creative’s profile and life path. CASA 93 is in an area known for its high rate of unemployment and its low rate of educational opportunities for young adults ages 18-25. Through CASA 93, creatives experiencing socio-economic and socio-emotional hardships have access to one-of-a-kind training, guidance, and networking opportunities with fashion professionals to which they would not otherwise have access.
Proceeds from the Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will support CASA 93’s unique mission, including the expansion of their professional development and career services program at Post Casa. Through Post Casa, alumni will be able to access free and ongoing career support services, educational workshops, and tools such as sewing machines and digital multimedia equipment to further secure their prospects for future employment.
Elman Peace Centre
Founded in Somalia in 1991, at the height of the civil war that continues to devastate communities to this day, the Elman Peace Centre - founded by Elman Ali Ahmed - introduced Somalia’s first community-based disarmament and reintegration program for youth being co-opted into armed groups by the warlords. After successfully disarming thousands of young women and men through his “Pick up the Pen, Drop the Gun” campaign where he offered alternative dignified livelihoods in exchange for exiting armed groups, he was assassinated in Somalia for his impact. The initiative is sustained today by his wife Fartuun Adan and their daughter Ilwad Elman. The Elman Peace Centre is a women and youth lead organization that operates throughout the most conflict laden regions of Somalia and has recently scaled its unique model for community-based peacebuilding to 9 different countries in Africa after being recognized as a global best practice of peace building during conflict.
The proceeds from the Season II of Walk a Mile In My Shoes collection will directly support young women and men disassociating from armed forces and groups in Somalia by giving them access to quality education, psychosocial support and counseling, alternative dignified livelihoods and will invest in character development through sports and arts to help them transition into civilian life as productive members of the community.
Art Start
Since 1991 Art Start has used the creative process to transform young lives by offering consistent workshops with long term partners, including youth organizations, schools, alternative sentencing programs, and residences for youth and families experiencing homelessness. Through Art Start, historically marginalized youth have a space to imagine, believe and represent their creative vision for their lives and communities.
Proceeds from Season II of Walk A Mile in My Shoes collection will support the nationally recognized work of Art Start including their Creative Connections Program, which offers youth in any circumstance, the opportunity to access and participate in drop-in sessions, creative residencies, paid internships, college counseling, and high level networking opportunities.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THE WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES COLLECTION.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL JOIN US IN SUPPORTING THESE INCREDIBLE ORGANISATIONS DEDICATED TO MAKE MEANINGFUL CHANGE.
Thanks to the incredible support, more than €1 million has been raised in the first season and redistributed amongst the humanitarian relief charities selected by the three friends for their importance and impact to equality and their communities.
