The charity project by Douuod for Baby Nel Cuore. Check it out: www.douuod.it

Anne-Claire Petit’s crochet figures seem to step out of a winter landscape by Avercamp.
“I really enjoyed transforming the atmosphere and details of Avercamp’s paintings into my own designs. The artisanship of 17th century painters is an element that can also be found in my own collection” says Petit. She was asked to design a special product line for the exhibition “IJspret” (The Little Ice Age) of Dutch painter Hendrick Avercamp. The products are for sale at the Rijksmuseum shop in Amsterdam or can be ordered through wwww.rijksmuseumshop.nl. The exhibition Hendrick Avercamp: IJspret runs from 20 November 2009 to 15 February 2010 at the Rijksmuseum.

Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini collaborates with author and illustrator Michael Roberts for the 5th anniversary of Gucci campaign to benefit Unicef.
For the 2009 Gucci Campaign to Benefit UNICEF, Frida Giannini has commissioned acclaimed author and illustrator Michael Roberts to create a sequel to his highly successful children’s book, Snowman in Paradise, which was published in 2004. The new book, titled Snowman in Africa, will be exclusively on sale in Gucci stores and on Gucci.com from November 16-December 31, 2009 with a retail price of USD $25. Gucci will donate 100% of the retail price of the book to UNICEF.

The annual Gucci Campaign to Benefit UNICEF has consistently supported education, healthcare, protection and clean water programs for orphans and children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In this highly active five-year period, Gucci has succeeded in committing over $7 million to UNICEF. This significant sum is a testament to the increased scale and scope of the company’s support, and has resulted in Gucci’s current status as the largest corporate donor to UNICEF’s “Schools for Africa” campaign. “Schools for Africa” aims to increase access to quality basic education for all children, with a special emphasis on helping the most disadvantaged—girls, orphans, children living in extreme poverty and other vulnerable children. In past campaigns, Gucci funds have focused on Malawi and Mozambique, and this year Gucci will add support for a third country, South Africa. In these three countries, over 2.3 million children have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The wonderful world of poppychildren: with every dress or outfit purchased you will receive a story book to read to your little one. Poppy is the brainchild of designer Bryony Richardson, her traditional yet fun clothing wear is versatile, and durable for your next bundle of fun. Bryony thinks, ”clothing has become too disposable” in today’s market and she wanted ”children to have an association with their clothes, a connection with them” so she created the character of Poppy and her dog Fred, to feature in the story books and in her designs.
It is important to get back to quality rather than quanity, and I think this is what this label achieves. You can mix and match outfits to create a new look every day.

Buying Marni helps children. Original and precious, the special editions of t-shirts, capes, parkas, hats and shopping bags for women and men, are decorated with artwork from kids all over the world. This project offer girls and boys of Brasil, Colombia, Guatemala, Tibet, India and Sierra Leone a brighter future and support their educational development.
“The fairy tale of the lion and the mouse” was the theme for the first project. The teacher read the tale to the children at school, who then depicted in colourful ways their feelings.
For the second project, small groups of children painted all together on big sheets of paper their memories of “A beautiful rainy day”.
Their paintings were printed directly on cotton t-shirts and shopping bags and onto a technical fabric for the capes, parkas and hats turning them into little art pieces. This special edition will be sold exclusively in Marni’s boutiques and on the Marni Virtual Store until their sell-out.
The proceeds will be distributed to educational and development projects, divided between schools and hospitals with the aim of strengthening the capabilities and skills while raising the quality of life, giving each child the opportunity to develop and grow into people responsible for their own lives.
Check: www.marni.com