Gucci for UNICEF special edition Sukey bag

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To mark the 6th year of the Gucci partnership with UNICEF, Gucci is offering this sophisticated Sukey bag from April 2010 through February 2011.  The luxury firm will donate 25% of its proceeds from the special edition Sukey bag to UNICEF.

“From a distance, Miteme Junior Primary School look slike a marketplace with vendors in school uniform.  On close inspection, one realizes this is a school without a single classroom.  Classes one to five are all held under trees; only class five has desks.”  As reporter Kusali Kubwalo writes for UNESCO, Kusali paints a poignant picture of the inadequacy of educational infrastructure in Lilongwe, Malawi.  This perspective is representative of many education systems in Africa, reflecting on my visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2007, nearly 70 students are crammed into a classroom that would normally seat 30 according to Western standards.

The funds raised will benefit UNICEF’s ‘Schools for Africa’ programs in Malawi and Mozambique, where children are not only deprived of education opportunities, nearly one million of them have lost their parents by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The Sukey bag is designed by Creative Director Frida Giannini who also named it “La Pelle Guccissima.”  The bag is derived from a classic Gucci design adorned with its iconic monogram.  The elegant grey is both sophisticated and versatile, whether you sport it as arm candy, or wardrobe essential, the Sukey is appropriate for all four  seasons.

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Gucci's Babouska tote for UNICEF, $1,395 - 25% goes to UNICEF

Since 2005 and every year since, Gucci has designed a special collection to benefit UNICEF with 25% of sales from these collections sold in Gucci stores or online going to the non-profit. Between the products, celebrity ambassadors and auctions, the Italian fashion house has done a tremendous job in supporting and publicizing UNICEF’s worthy causes.

Founded in 1946 in response to the desolation caused by WWII, UNICEF – United Nations International Emergency Children’s Fund – is the world’s leading advocate for children, with programs in over 190 countries.

Focusing on practical ways to alleviate the symptoms of poverty and devastion, UNICEF works to secure children’s universal human rights as outlined by the UN.

This year (Feb ’09 – Jan ’10) Frida Giannini has designed the Babouska tote featuring Gucci’s signature logo fabric, studded hardware and heart-shaped crest charm. 25% of the sales will be donated to support UNICEF’s “Schools for Africa” program in Malawi and Mozambique (both in southeastern Africa bordering the Indian Ocean), where over one million children have been orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

“Schools for Africa” is an initiative between UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the Hamburg Society whose aim is to promote education for children – focusing the most on those living in extreme poverty.

During the course of its partnership with UNICEF, Gucci has donated over $5M to the organization. For more information on Gucci’s commitment to UNICEF, visit www.gucci.com/unicef

The 2008 initiative featured Rihanna and the Tattoo Heart collection

PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney and other luxury brands, has financially backed the production and distribution of this eye-opening movie about our earth and the damaging effects of global warming.

On June 5th – World Environmental day -Home the movie will be released worldwide in theaters, on television, on DVD and on the Internet. The goal of this movie is surprisingly not to take a bite out of the box office, but to raise awareness of our collective responsibility towards the planet – our Home. Profits will be donated to Goodplanet – a non-profit working to raise awareness of the disastrous state of our planet and the need for human intervention and responsibility.

Of course, this would not be possible without the generosity of PPR and its executives who aim to make a difference.

Chairman and CEO, Francois-Henri Pinault asserts that “the social and environmental issues of our planet are immense and sustainable development concerns us all. Therefore we must not only take action individually but to encourage by informing and raising awareness to everybody around us. Personal awareness about the state of emergency in which our planet – our home – finds itself is essential and the foremost prerequisite for this crucial mobilisation in favour of sustainable development. The movie’s images have this power, this capacity.”