Couture with a Conscience: New Fashion Line Supports Women Entrepreneurs Across the World

from PR Web

Shabby Apple Apparel launches fall line in partnership with Unitus

Salt Lake City, UT, and Redmond, WA (PRWEB) August 29, 2007 -- Shabby Apple, a socially responsible women's apparel company, announces the launch of their new fall line of fashions with a conscience in partnership with Unitus, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing global poverty by increasing access to microfinance. Through the partnership, Shabby Apple will donate 5 percent of its proceeds to support Unitus's work of empowering women entrepreneurs in India, where the company sources many of its textiles. This innovative partnership provides women an opportunity to connect with and support women's empowerment across the world through their purchase of Shabby Apple products.

"We at Shabby Apple are honored to support the fight against global poverty through our partnership with Unitus," said Emily McCormick, co-founder of Shabby Apple. "We feel that in today's world businesses can't exist simply to make profits. With more than 3 billion people living on less than two dollars per day, we all need to make a positive contribution. We chose to partner with Unitus because of their impressive track record in helping provide economic opportunity to more than 2 million women and their families worldwide, and because of their large presence in India, where we source our textiles. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we found Unitus to be the perfect partner to help empower other women entrepreneurs around the world."

Each Shabby Apple dress in the fall line will feature a unique hang tag that shares a story of strength and inspiration from the women in India who benefit from access to microcredit. Visitors to the Shabby Apple and Unitus websites can learn more about each featured entrepreneur and/or make a donation or purchase to support this effort. Every $100 donation provides at least 20 women with access to financial services and the chance to live a life without poverty.


"We're grateful to Shabby Apple for bringing more visibility and awareness around the pressing needs of global poverty and the promise of microfinance," said Diana Reid, Vice President of Unitus Donor & Investor Relations. "Simply by purchasing a dress online or at a trunk show, Shabby Apple customers will be helping to bring life-changing financial services to women in India and empower them to lift themselves out of poverty."

For many women in the developing world, life is a constant struggle against poverty and hardship. Limited economic opportunity can lead to a downward cycle of malnutrition, illiteracy and poor health -- a cycle that traps each new generation. Microfinance loans -- typically in amounts of $100 or less -- enable women entrepreneurs in developing countries to start or expand small businesses, such as weaving baskets, raising chickens, or running small retail shops and restaurants, and begin to break the cycle of poverty. Income from these businesses provides better food, housing, health care and education for entire families, and perhaps most importantly, hope for a better future.

Unitus is a leading social enterprise that works to eliminate barriers to growth for institutions delivering financial services to the world's poorest. Through its innovative business and technology solutions and links to capital markets Unitus helps its partners to grow rapidly and reach thousands more new microcredit loan recipients each year. Unitus and its portfolio of 16 microfinance partners are working together to change the lives of more than 2.2 million families in Argentina, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines.

About Shabby Apple
Shabby Apple LLC is a dress company that offers figure-flattering, moderately-priced designer dresses. Shabby Apple is a return to what dresses were always meant to be -- a one-piece outfit with no need to add anything...no tank tops, no cardigans, nothing. The company teaches women how to accessorize in different ways to make the same dress appropriate for different occasions. Shabby Apple launches three lines of dresses a year and is a women-owned and women-operated, socially responsible company. By partnering with Unitus, a leading nonprofit organization in the microfinance industry, Shabby Apple donates time and money to help alleviate global poverty for millions of women and their families. Visit Shabby Apple online at www.shabbyapple.com.

About Unitus
Unitus, Inc. is a worldwide leader at scaling proven solutions to global poverty. Unitus accelerates access to life-changing financial services for those living at the bottom of the economic pyramid - the 3 billion people who are living on less than $2 a day. Unitus partners with the world's most promising microfinance institutions and provide them with breakthrough business strategies, technology and access to capital that empower them to serve thousands more hardworking micro-entrepreneurs around the world. Unitus partners are adding new loan recipients eight times fasted than the industry average. Our portfolio reaches more than 2.2 million families in Argentina, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines. Our goal is to reach more than 15 million of the world's working poor by 2015. Unitus has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and on NPR, and received Fast Company Magazine's Social Capitalist award in 2005 and 2006.

Unitus is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, with offices in Redmond, WA and Bangalore, India. For more information, please visit www.unitus.com or contact us at info @unitus.com.