Nolcha Fashion Week, or New York Fashion Week, has arrived in high style debuting cutting-edge designs from emerging and uber designers. This season (Feb. 10-13) Nolcha continues to support and showcase ethical fashion, featuring sustainable brands like the Show Me Your Mumu Collection from Care For Kenya. Care For Kenya is a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged women and girls in Kenya with micro-lending initiatives and scholarships. The Show Me Your Mumu Collection will debut at the Nolcha Fashion Lounge today. Halogen spoke to Care For Kenya founder Daleela Farina about New York Fashion Week, its collection, and how you can wear and support fabulous, ethical fashion.

What’s in the Show Me Your Mumu Collection?
The collection will feature Show Me Your Mumu’s signature Mumu as well as the Muniversal Tote, which was designed exclusively for this project. Both items will be available in a variety of authentic patterns and textiles made from beautiful Kenyan fabrics.

What was the inspiration for this collection?
Care For Kenya is geared toward establishing a relationship with New York and LA-based fashion designers who allow for a portion of their lines to be produced locally in Kibera – the largest slum of Nairobi, Kenya – by hired women who are deeply affected by HIV/AIDS and have limited work capabilities. Such micro-financing projects become a means of reliable and substantial income for vulnerable women who live where job opportunities are bleak and male-orientated. Through the joint efforts between Care For Kenya and in this case, the designers behind Show Me Your Mumu, we have established not only a successful income-generated scheme for these women, but we also promote the empowerment of women through improving their livelihoods and alleviating their financial burdens.

Who are the designers of the collection?
Through a mutual friend, we at Care For Kenya were introduced to designer Cammy Hebert and Cologne Schmidt, and after hearing about these women, they instantly signed on to the 2011 Care For Kenya project to create the Show Me Your Mumu-C4K collection. Meanwhile, the collection was made by the women of Kenya from the Women’s Community Center of Kibera.

How does a purchase benefit Kenya?
With every purchase of a mumu or tote bag, 100 percent of the proceeds of this collection are going directly back to the women of Kibera. Proceeds of the collection will not only be donated back to the Kibera Women’s Community Center, but Cammy Hebert has also agreed to allocate funds to the women who have contributed their time and hard work to produce this collection. Care For Kenya hopes to spread awareness of the important role the fashion community can play in improving the lives of poverty-stricken women by encouraging a sustainable ongoing business environment that enables these women to do great things and empowers us all. With every mumu or tote sold, consumers can be confident they are not only fashion-forward, but also providing for a family in Kenya.

Where can we buy items from the collection?
The items will be available for purchase at Nolcha Fashion Week and will be made available online following the event.

Check out more ethical collections debuting at New York Fashion Week.

Photos by Ryan Hebert