UNT alumni found fair trade lingerie company to promote female …

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Marlene Gonzalez of North Texas Daily

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What if panties could change the world?

Cherie Amie logo

When UNT alumni Tara Smith and Ryan Schuette first met at the university’s study abroad office, neither knew their separate journeys to Africa would later tie them together.

Both are co-founders of Cherie Amie, French for “cherished friend,” the first fair trade intimate apparel company that adopts the Good Returns business model. The company contributes 100 percent of its end-of-year profits to sustainable poverty relief programs.

Good Returns

The Good Returns concept centers on the idea that a business loans 100 percent of its profits to women around the world through micro-lending nonprofit organizations. The women use the money to start their own businesses and then pay back their loans at the end of the year.

Entrepreneur Salah Boukadoum came up with the Good Returns Concept in 2009. He applied the business model to Soap Hope, a company he founded that sells all-natural body care products. Boukadoum met Smith and Schuette through Chiapas International, a nonprofit organization they were involved in.

“I’m happy that they want to do something good for the world by using this business model,” Boukadoum said. “It serves as a solution to help social problems.”

He said his goal is to have 1,000 entrepreneurs adopt this business model. Besides Soap Hope, there are two other businesses implementing the model and four that are planning to join. He said it is still in the experimental stages.

“It’s not enough just to think about it, ” Boukadoum said. “People have to take the action. It’s up to the public to help by shopping at these companies and making a difference.”

Boukadoum said the average woman requires about $230 to start and grow her own business. He said people don’t realize that they can buy a product for themselves and help someone else at the same time.

“I think most people think they have to choose between one or the other, but they don’t,” Boukadoum said. “It doesn’t take a lot of money to make a difference.”

Be sexy, buy fair

On Aug. 31, Smith and Schuette raised $15,250 in a 45-day campaign through the website Indiegogo.com, surpassing their goal of $15,000 to start mass production of their lingerie in Cameroon. On Sept. 26, Smith flew to Cameroon to meet with seamstresses and begin working on the lingerie line.

Although the company is based out of Dallas, there won’t be a physical location where people can purchase the lingerie. It will all be done online.

“Online retail is a huge business right now,” Schuette said. “It’s difficult to set up a brick and mortar business without taking out a loan.”

According to Business Insider, the global lingerie industry achieved $10.7 billion in sales in 2009, a nearly 5.3 percent increase from 2008.

Before Cherie Amie, Smith founded Peace Tree Africa in 2009 after serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, and Schuette co-founded Kroo Bay Initiative in 2009 after winning a Rotary scholarship to go to Uganda, both nonprofit organizations.

“We have so much time on Earth it’s hard to imagine ourselves just watching,” Schuette said. “We’re mission drivers. We want to see people we care about get out of poverty and succeed.”

Giving back

Professional photographer Carole Hayes, founder of Shot by Carole, said Smith contacted her by email, wanting to meet up for lunch and discuss Cherie Amie. Since then, she has donated her time and skills to help promote the company.

Hayes said she was surprised there wasn’t a lingerie fair trade line already established. She even searched on Google to make sure there wasn’t one that was missed.

“I love that they’re putting a different spin on it,” Hayes said. “People should know about it because the more they buy, the more loans there are, and more people in Cameroon can get work.”

Hayes shot the photos for the company’s calendar, which comes out in November and shot the teaser video to draw attention to Cherie Amie.

Andrea Ramirez, one of the four “fair ladies” models for Cherie Amie, said Smith and Schuette spoke to her about the company and she was drawn in. Ramirez said there isn’t a lot of help and encouragement for women, but this gives women an opportunity to better themselves.

“They have given these people much more than just money,” Ramirez said. “It’s a whole entire life they’re giving them.”

Ramirez said she cannot change the world by herself, but by volunteering to model, she does her share.

“It’s not what am I going to get out of it,” Ramirez said. “It’s what can I do and how can I get there.”

Smith will return with baby dolls, boxers, garters, panties and teddies in time for Black Friday and the holidays.

For more information visit the website besexybuyfair.com.

Pegasus News Content partner – North Texas Daily

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Dita Von Teese steps out with a sexy glam clothing line

She’s splish-splashed naked onstage in a giant martini glass, married (and divorced) Marilyn Manson and acted on the TV series “CSI.”

And now, burlesque queen and fashion muse Dita Von Teese is designing her own capsule clothing line.

The collection, available in sizes 4 to 16 and priced at $575 to $995, is being launched at Los Angeles vintage boutique Decades and online at http://www.shopdecadesinc.com, which is appropriate since the pieces are inspired by Von Teese’s own vintage treasures.

“I have always wanted to do something like this, to re-create vintage pieces in wearable sizes and fabrics,” said Von Teese, who is an inspiration and friend to many designers, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Louboutin among them. “But I don’t claim to be a fashion designer, because I have so much respect for my designer friends and what they do. I don’t sketch or sew. My talent lies in styling myself and choosing vintage pieces that don’t make me look like I’m starring in a costume drama.”

Von Teese was born Heather Sweet in West Branch, Mich., the daughter of a machinist and a manicurist. When she was 12, she and her family moved to Irvine. She started out modeling for fetish magazines and dancing at strip clubs like Captain Cream in Lake Forest, shaping her image by wearing retro corsets, long gloves and veils during her act. Her big break came in December 2002 when she posed for Playboy. Since then, she has been a fashion world darling, appearing at hundreds of events as a guest and the main attraction, performing her act at parties for brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Louis Vuitton.

“I started dressing in vintage because I couldn’t afford designer clothes. I started wearing makeup and coloring my hair and creating this glam persona because I couldn’t achieve the sexy model look that I saw on the cover of Sports Illustrated,”

she said. “That’s where the art of creation came from.”

Her nearly all-black collection consists of just five pieces, each one a tool of sartorial seduction right out of old Hollywood. One is a 1950s-era, full-skirted VIP coat ($895), which has an hourglass fit-and-flare silhouette, tulle lining and a secret pocket for a lipstick, a key or … something else. (“I like to wear it with nothing but black stockings and lingerie underneath,” Von Teese said.)

The Bon Bon dress ($995) comes in a red-and-black rose print with red velvet ribbon straps adapted from a 1930s gown in her closet. The Second Look dress ($595) is a versatile sheath with a power-mesh interior. But the Showcase dress ($695) may be the sexiest of all, with a sculpted decolletage designed to be worn with a lacy bra peeking out.

“I thought about the dresses I wear all the time,” Von Teese said of the process of creating the line. “The Follow Me dress [$895] with the scarf over the shoulder I have been wearing for almost 15 years. I’m not sure where I bought it, but I wear it over and over in different ways.”

Small details were important, including silk linings and grosgrain waist ribbons to add structure.

“I have a huge vintage collection, and I don’t just collect designer labels, but also clothes normal women wore,” Von Teese said. “And it drives me crazy that you don’t get all those details today that you used to in clothing.”

The collection, produced by the Australian company Lime Door Brands, was introduced in Australia earlier this year. Von Teese has a perfume and underwear line overseas as well, but her titular brand of glamour has been a harder sell in America, which can still be prudish when it comes to certain things.

“In other countries, people can watch what I do on television,” said Von Teese, who lives in Los Angeles. “In America, I get the question all the time, ‘What does she do?’ In America, people don’t understand how I can make a living as a striptease star. Maybe they have forgotten about Gypsy Rose Lee. Of course, I could have made a reality show and I wouldn’t have had any problem selling my products. But I decided to take things slow, do them the right way and hopefully have more staying power.”

Von Teese is on tour with her latest burlesque revue, “Strip, Strip Hurray.” And her fans might surprise you, she said. “My fan base and people interested in seeing me has evolved. Originally, it was Bettie Page fans and guys who remembered burlesque. Now, I have more women than men. My fans come in all shapes, sizes and ethnicities. My look works on any age and ethnicity, and I think my fans are getting the same thrill out of playing dress-up, wearing red lipstick, high heels and stockings, as I do.”

She hopes that this capsule collection will lead to future fashion opportunities. “I would love to do an even more affordable dress collection or go on HSN or QVC. I love to talk about what I do,” she said. “Even though I am a striptease star, against the odds I have female fans and I think I have something to offer that isn’t out there.”

booth.moore@latimes.com

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