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Half United: Fighting Hunger Through Fashion



When I first discovered HALF United I was intrigued with their “buy one feed one” motto. Founder Carmin Black and Danielle Garrow both design shirts for a good cause, for every product purchased they feed a child in need. Based in Wilmington, NC HALF United not only helps feed children in their community but also in Fiji, Liberia, and formerly in Haiti as well.
   

Find out more about the company after the break.

Is there any one thing that made you decide to do this? 

DANIELLE – I have had a passion for fashion and retail my whole life, it’s what I know and what I am good at. I was actually going to start my own line of t-shirts, when I re-united with Carmin. We were best friends in high school but lost touch over the years. When we came together years later, she was looking for help designing the HALF women’s line. After she told me about the company, I instantly knew this was an opportunity that I shouldn’t pass up. I loved the idea of combining my love for designing with the mission to fight hunger…fashion with a cause. 

CARMIN – Before Founding HALF UNITED, I grew up in a home where giving back and fashion were placed as top priorities. My father was a minister, my mother an interior space designer for retail stores. I always loved both philanthropy and the fashion industry but never thought I could find a career that would combine the two seemingly unrelated worlds until I was accepted by TOMS shoes to be a part of their “Vagabond” program. It was my job to travel the country in a 15 passenger van (loaded down with TOMS shoes and other merchandise) with two other female team members to help spread the word about the TOMS One for One movement. At TOMS I learned how to correctly run a business that gives back. This knowledge combined with everything I lived through as a child made this type of business the perfect fit for my life. I love using fashion as my means of supporting a cause I truly believe in- eradicating global hunger!

I’d love to share some more inspiration behind the line. There is an obvious Native American influence with the designs, how did that come about?


DANIELLE – I honestly don’t know why, but I have always been drawn to clothing reminiscent of Native American culture. I love feathers , fringe, and the intricate patterns and colors seen in Native American prints. We all collectively thought that this would be a great theme that would work well for the guys and girls clothing collection. We weren’t even thinking if it was trendy or not, which turns out it is! 

CARMIN – I feel the same as Danielle- I love the culture, the lifestyle, the feeling our designs give you that you’re somehow free. Two summer’s ago I worked with American Indian children from the Apache and Navajo Indian Reservations in Arizona and while I cannot say these children or their families ever wore feathers, or loud patterns, or any other thing we’ve used in our designs- I can say that they somehow felt like they lived life at a slower pace than the rest of us in the US, as if they were somehow more connected to the world around them. Of course this only my opinion based on my own personal observation- these people just seemed at peace- somehow I hope our designs speak that same message- to slow down and take a look at others around you- and in our case we are hoping that you will think of the child you’ve fed every single time you put on your HALF UNITED merchandise. Currently Native American inspired-design is on trend and while we were coming up with our line’s theme we really didn’t think about that, we just wanted to create pieces that we would love, and in doing so it turns out others feel the same.




Where do you see the future of the company going? 
HALF is constantly growing and changing, the one thing that is constant is our mission to fight global hunger. We are fortunate to be constantly approached by numerous organizations and companies that want to partner with us. Our goal is to sell as many of our products as possible…THE MORE WE SELL, THE MORE KIDS WE FEED! In the future another exciting goal is to only work with sustainable fabrics and to give back specifically to the men or women who make our products. How awesome will it be if one day we are not only feeding children in need with every purchase made, but we are also taking an active role in creating sustainable employment and changing entire communities!? These are goals that we are not far from and will stop at nothing until they have been accomplished.

Will it expand past t-shirts or are y’all going to keep it nice and simple?


Yes, we plan to expand! We are actually in the beginning stages of designing our Spring/Summer 2012 collection. We hope to branch out from just graphic tees and include more complex styles and designs, yet keeping our price point and customers in mind. We will be debuting our Spring/Summer ’12 Collection at the Atlanta Apparel Trade show, happening in October of this year!
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