Eco-Fashionista: Urban Zen Initiative

Urban Zen (www.urbanzen.org) is devoted to raising awareness and inspiring change. Albeit on a small scale, but if all of us combine our efforts, it would literally make a world of difference.

I’m so excited to tell you about Urban Zen Initiative. I’m whole heartedly obsessed with this company (and if anyone is reading this and knows an in for me in the company, I swear to you I’ll name my first child, and maybe second, after you).

Urban Zen Initiative is a 100% non-for-profit company whose mission is to raise awareness and inspire change. Founded in 2006 by Donna Karan as a separate entity to her already amazing fashion empire, it serves as a catalyst for collaboration to provide funding for these three areas: Well-Being, Preserving Cultures and Empowering Children.

*Well-Being: The Urban Zen Initiative helps support programmes that advance integrative medicine by treating patients through the combined efforts of eastern and western medicine. For example, they help support and distribute a series of Bravewell Collaborative integrative medicine training videos for healthcare providers.

*Preserving Cultures: The Company helps various cultures maintain their rich and vibrant identities supporting programmes that help local communities around the world preserve their unique cultural heritage while participating in global development efforts. For example, Urban Zen helps sustain small villages in Africa by buying jewelry directly from the women who make them. (And let me tell you, it’s the most amazing jewelry).

*Empowering Children: Most importantly, I think, they help give children around the hope through opportunities to cultivate and reach their true potential by various education programmes.

In essence, it’s a clothing store that sells really great clothes, jewelry, incense, etc. A very holistic, well-being store, if you will. But it’s the backbone of the company that makes it something amazing. They are constantly working on and launching pilot programmes at Beth Israel Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center that study integrative medical practices. They host events such as Hope – a fundraising lunch for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. They have yoga and Kabala workshops for adults and children, and so much more. It’s an amazing platform to learn, inspire, grow from and help. And I can’t describe it any better. SO buy, help, and spread the word to help CREATE CHANGE.

The Urban Zen store is located at the Stephan Weiss Studio on Greenwich St. Visit their site http://www.urbanzen.org/.