Local Brand Helping Fight World Poverty

Meredith Garrett, designer of the year-old Los Angeles–based contemporary brand Signorelli, has signed on with OmniPeace and Millennium Promise to help end extreme poverty by 2025. Millennium Promise is a nonprofit organization founded by economist and global anti-poverty crusader Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. The organization focuses its efforts on Africa and hopes to save the lives of 30 million children who would otherwise die before reaching the age of five.

OmniPeace was founded by Los Angeles– based entrepreneur Mary Fanaro to help raise funds and awareness for Millennium Promise by partnering with different brands, including chocolate, jewelry, outerwear, apparel and accessories makers, to create retail products bearing the charity’s logo.

Signorelli, which has created T-shirts to raise funds for charities––such as The Surfrider Foundation, Hurricane Katrina Musicians’ Relief Fund and the Lupus Foundation––has signed on to create T-shirts for men and women bearing the OmniPeace logo. Shipping for Spring 2007 and Fall 2007, Signorelli’s Supima cotton and Modal T-shirts wholesale for $38 and are expected to retail for $62. Garrett will donate all profits from her shirts to Millennium Promise.

Retailers who buy the shirts have the option to donate their markup to the charity as well. So far, Kitson, Fred Segal Santa Monica and Tracey Ross have placed orders. “Kitson’s Fraser Ross has agreed to give 100 percent of his markup to Millennium Promise,” Garrett said, and the two are making plans to host an in-store event for Signorelli’s T-shirts this summer. “It is a really important cause, and I’m dedicated to doing whatever I can to help,” she said.

For more information about Signorelli, call (213) 488-9833 or visit www.signorellila.com/join.htm. For more information about OmniPeace and Millennium Promise, visit www.omni-peace.com and www.millenniumpromise.org. —Erin Barajas