June 3, 2015
Gucci's Growing Tall, video still
Over its 10-year partnership with charity organization UNICEF, Italian fashion house Gucci has helped more than 7.5 million children in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
To commemorate this milestone, as well as to highlight children helped by the partnership, Gucci commissioned a short video showing the impact education can have on the lives of young girls. Luxury brands often team with philanthropic initiatives to give back to the community in a host of ways from environmental campaigns to educational efforts.
Educational happenings
For the “Growing Tall” film project, Gucci worked with Brooklyn-based filmmaker and cinematographer Christina Voros to capture how education can transform lives, especially for girls and women.
The film focuses on the personal experiences of children, teachers and parents in a rural community in Mozambique. Throughout the film these individuals reflect on the educational progress they have experienced over the past 10 years.
Growing Tall
Over the course of a decade, enrollment at primary schools in Mozambique increased from approximately 4 million students in 2005 to 5.5 million in 2013.
But, despite the progress made, approximately 58 million children are unable to attend school, and more than half of this number are girls. In sub-Saharan Africa for example, one in five children are out of school.
During its work with UNICEF, Gucci has focused its contributions toward Schools for Africa, an initiative that expands quality education to girls, many orphans, who live in extreme poverty. Over the last decade, Gucci has trained more than 8,700 teachers and educators and has aided in the construction of 300 classrooms stocked with 14,600 desks and 1,800 water and sanitation facilities nearby centers of learning.
In a statement, Gucci’s CEO Marco Bizzarri said, “Gucci is proud to celebrate a decade of partnership with UNICEF and $20 million donated, benefiting more than 7.5 million children to date. We are especially grateful to all our clients and employees, who have played a fundamental role in the success of the partnership and helped to make it the most extensive philanthropic initiative in our company’s history. We look forward to continuing our commitment to Unicef through the Chime for Change global girls’ and women’s empowerment campaign that Gucci founded in 2013.”
Most recently, Chime for Change, began a campaign in Syria to raise money for the children and families impacted by the country’s civil conflict.
Chime for the Children of Syria, officially launching in May, has the goal of raising $25,000 for UNICEF to help the youngest citizens who have experienced trauma get an education as well as psychological help. As the Syrian conflict enters its fifth year, Gucci and UNICEF’s efforts will help minimize its costs and restore a feeling of normalcy to children’s lives (see story).
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