From Rags to Dress-4-Success
Janet Lavender knows exactly what her clients are looking for in a professional business suit. That’s because the executive director and founder of Dress-4-Success, a Los Angeles-based national organization that provides professional clothing to low-income women (and some men) seeking employment, makes it her business to make other people look professional.
“Looking professional is an estimated 80 percent of an applicant’s total marketability,” Lavender said. “A person’s self-esteem and personal confidence can literally double when they feel they look the part.”
On July 26, Lavender and other members of Los Angeles’ apparel industry including the California Mart and the Business Improvement District will take part in a community event called LA Connection: People Helping People, at the Cal Mart.
Lavender said the event underscores the importance of people helping others increase their value in life but admitted it is only a small contribution to the problem at hand.
Dress-4-Success’ Los Angeles chapter, which Lavender helped create five years ago, coexists alongside a string of other Los Angeles-based social service programs that help low-income people back on their feet, including General Relief Opportunities for Work (G.R.O.W.), Greater Avenues for Independence (G.A.I.N.) and Operation Hope.
With a mission to accomplish and the financial support of major corporations, including Verizon Wireless, Lavender now reaches people in need throughout Los Angeles County with offices in North Hollywood, Chatsworth and downtown Los Angeles. The overwhelming response of positive feedback has drawn national attention to her organization. As a result, Dress-4-Success has been used as a business model by 60 other startup programs throughout the U.S. with the same name.
But perhaps no one knows the positive impact of these programs more than Lavender.
“I started this program based on personal experiences of my own,” she explained.Lavender, who graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a degree in business, went through some tough times prior to starting Dress-4-Success. Following her college graduation, Lavender held several well-paid positions in real estate and financial institutions, but after the unexpected death of her mother in the early 1990s she experienced troubles.
Lavender and her nine-month-old baby sought refuge in 1996 at the Valley Shelter in North Hollywood, Calif., and after borrowing a dress suit from her sister, Lavender landed a job in financial security investments at a Great Western bank.
Lavender liked her job but wanted to give something back to the community that helped her back on to her feet. Five years later, Lavender is still preparing others for work. Dress-4-Success provides professional clothing to at least 50 to 75 women each month. Although most of her clients are women—65 percent to be exact—Lavender has had her share of men requesting a makeover.
Lavender’s boutique has been located in the California Mart for the past two years. About half of the boutique’s stock is new clothing donated by manufacturers, retailers and individuals; the other half consists of private donations. A small percentage of her stock is from clothing drives sponsored by Nordstrom and other Southern California department stores.
The process is simple. Lavender’s clients arrive a day before their interview and, with the help of a personal shopping assistant, try on a variety of different styles to achieve several different looks before they choose the best one for them. After her clients have gone through the preliminary stage of the makeover they’re sent down the hall to Angelo’s hair salon, where volunteer beauticians and stylists wait to add their finishing touch. “We try to make everything as simple as we can,” Lavender said. “When they receive the clothing all they have to do is put [it] on.”
The boutique offers a vast selection of business suits in many styles, as well as blouses, skirts, shoes, hosiery and accessories. It even has a modest-sized makeup department.
LA Connection: People Helping People will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 26 in the Cal Mart Fashion Theater. The job fair will help prepare and set up interviews with onsite employers from various corporations and businesses, including Verizon, Bank of America, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Wells Fargo Bank. Admission to the event is free.
