Parvati Magazine December 2014/January 2015: Consequence/Beginnings | Page 41

FASHION
Detroit’s automotive industry was ground zero
for the economic downturn, with a terrible toll
in jobs lost and homes
foreclosed. The social
safety net is tattered and
stretched beyond its limits. Those who manage to
get a slot in a shelter can
only stay for two years,
often not long enough to
rebuild their lives and get
a stable home, so they
may end up back out on
the streets.
Michigan winters are brutally cold. All members of
Parvati Magazine’s editorial board have walked
through Detroit in December and felt the biting
chill. Being out there with
no choice in the matter,
no home and no place
to warm up, is life-threatening, but this is what Detroit’s homeless population faces every winter.
Veronika Scott, a design
student at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies,
felt moved to do something about the situation.
If she could not resolve
homelessness, she could

Mark

at least help to provide
some
much-needed
warmth. As a class project, she designed the “Element S”, a waterproof,
self-heated coat that
transforms into a sleeping bag. She worked in a
homeless shelter and consulted with homeless people to ensure the product
met their needs. When
her semester ended, she
realized she did not want
to stop, so she has continued under the name The
Empowerment Plan.
The Empowerment Plan
now employs homeless
women, feeding and
housing them, and teaching them sewing and business skills, to construct the
Element S locally. It is given
out for free to those who
are living on the streets.
Scott recently told Fast
Company, “I continued
the project not just because I was passionate
about it but because
actual people needed,
wanted, and desired it. I
realized I had to take it to
the next level and make it
a system.”

By Parvati Magazine staff

Imre Molnar, a dean at
the College for Creative
Studies, told the New York
Times in 2012 that “Veronika’s garment has great international ramifications.
Her coat could be used
by refugees or for disaster relief operations.” He
added that the Red Cross
has shown interest in the
item.
It’s exciting and inspiring
to see designers who see
a need and take action
to help others, both in the
product and in the production chain. In this way,
fashion designers and entrepreneurs can benefit
the world with their creativity.