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Michael Stars Launches 'Artisan Collection' From Haiti
Suzanne Lerner, the co-founder of Michael Stars, has been very active in various philanthropic groups trying to make life better in Haiti, particularly after the 2010 earthquake that killed from 160,000 to 220,000 people.
Lerner's most recent project to help Haitians involves a collaboration with Paula Coles Haiti, a design company founded by Paula Coles who makes home and fashion accessories out of fabric scraps left over at Haitian T-shirt factories. Paula Coles mission is to provide education and a better way of life for underprivileged children.
As part of the Spring collection, Michael Stars stores on April 24 will start selling a limited edition of linen anorak jackets that have four different hand-beaded designs done by Haitian artisans. The designs are called Veve (pronunced vay vay) designs that represent Haitian gods and goddesses.
The jackets will be sold only at Michael Stars stores and online at MichaelStars.com for $298, with $100 of that being donated to Prodev to provide education to under-served communities in Haiti.
