Nonprofit Well-Suited Opens Store in Downtown L.A.
Janet Lavender has provided more than 100,000 low-income residents with complimentary business suits and career casual clothes for job interviews and work since 1996 as the founder of Los Angeles–based Dress 4 Success (which merged with New York–based Dress for Success in 2001). Lavender left Dress for Success in 2008 and is now founder and chief executive officer of Well-Suited, which operates with the same mission: to help low-income job seekers “make a good first impression” by providing work-appropriate clothing.
To combat declining donations from corporations and foundations during the recession, Lavender opened the Unique Boutique in the garment district of downtown Los Angeles to generate funds for the Well-Suited program. The store makes use of the new and gently used clothing donated to Well-Suited that was deemed not interview-appropriate by selling the clothing at affordable prices to the low-income employed residents in the surrounding areas.
“In the past, the organization donated its excess to Salvation Army and Goodwill. This year, because of a decline in contributions, we were forced to become creative and realized these clothes can be recycled for funding our own programs and services. This is the same way Goodwill and the others have become self-sufficient,” Lavender said in a statement.
The store will also serve as the center for donations and referred clients from the Department of Social Services, homeless shelters and Battered Women. Lavender’s charitable organizations have received clothing donations from movie and television studios, as well as manufacturers such as Guess? Inc., Banana Republic and Nine West. The value of the donations adds up to more than $6 million. All contributions are tax-deductible.
For more information about Well-Suited and Unique Boutique, call Janet Lavender at (213) 488-9465.—Rhea Cortado
