Courtesy of Kering Foundation
Kering—the French fashion corporation that serves as the parent company to Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Christopher Kane, and Stella McCartney— has unveiled its annual White Ribbon For Women campaign, in light of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Saturday 25). To celebrate the initiative, which runs from November 20-25, Kering has collaborated with brand ambassadors, including Alessandro Michele, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Joseph Altuzarra, and Salma Hayek, in a bid to end gender-based violence and address the fact that one in three women are victims of domestic abuse.
Courtesy of Kering Foundation
The new digital campaign centers around the #ICouldHaveBeen movement in an effort to break the silence surrounding violence against women. “Being born a girl, should not equate to a higher risk of violence. Yet, unfortunately, it is the case in our world today,”says Kering’s chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault. “We all could have been born a girl, we all must take on this combat.”
Creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, adds: “There should be no boundaries, no hierarchy, no violence. Men and women are equal.” As part of the digital campaign, the men reveal the name their parents would have given them if they had been born as a woman, or the name of a female relative, meanwhile McCartney and Hayek take the pronoun of ‘her’ to highlight the existing gender gap.
Courtesy of Kering Foundation
“Asking my parents what name they would have chosen if I had been born a girl was an eye-opener,” admits Altuzarra, who becomes “Juliette”. “It is exasperating to think that, as Juliette, I could have been less safe or less powerful. Women are not a lesser sex. We must ensure they are never again treated as such.”
The sixth edition of the White Ribbon Campaign is targeted specifically towards millennials in order to encourage a sustainable change in mindset across the globe. “To put an end to violence against women, I believe we must change mindsets, and to do so, we have to engage younger generations, particularly Generation Z,” remarks Hayek. “I think they can have an incredible impact by taking action against gender inequality and the root causes of gender-based violence.”
McCartney adds, “We, as women, are a team. We have to support each other and stick together. Men are showing their support, and now, we must all join forces.” Join the movement at Icouldhavebeen.org.
