To celebrate 10 years of Gucci's partnership with UNICEF, the Italian fashion house have created a short film entitled, Growing Tall.
By Christopher Prince
Directed by Brooklyn-based filmmaker and cinematographer, Christina Voros - known for her works, As I Lay Dying (2013) and the gripping 127 Hours (2010) both starring James Franco - Growing Tall showcases the impact of education on young girls' lives in Mozambique. Voros's deft hand at documenting the personal experiences of not only the children, but the teachers and parents who inhabit this sub-Saharan African region, sheds light on the efforts Gucci and UNICEF are making to try and implement social structures.
Over the course of 8 years, the number of children enrolled in primary schools in Mozambique increased from nearly 4 million in 2005 to 5.5 million in 2015. And worldwide, since 2000, 34 million more primary school-aged children have gained a formal education. Still despite these efforts, some 58 million children of primary school age remain out of school, with over half of them female.
CHIME FOR CHANGE, an initiative formed by the luxury Italian house Gucci, was created to unite and strengthen the voices speaking out for girls and women around the world. Over the course of their decade-long tenure the initiative has helped fund more than 400 projects in 86 countries, reaching hundreds of thousands of girls and women around the world. Gucci have contributed more than US$20 million to UNICEF, making this union one of the brand's most philanthropic partnerships in Gucci's extensive fashion history.
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Growing Tall was debuted in New York at the Tribeca Grand Hotel this June, attended by the director herself alongside President and CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri and President and CEO U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Caryl M. Stern, who introduced the film to the media.
Commentating on the event, UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake noted, “UNICEF is grateful to Gucci and its employees for their commitment to improving children’s lives and futures through education. Every child should have a fair chance in life. That begins with a fair chance to learn. Through our long and successful partnership, Gucci has helped provide that chance to so many children who might otherwise be excluded – and in doing so, provided them with the tools to build a better world for themselves and their communities.”
Since its founding in 2005, Gucci have gone on to support education initiatives that have trained more than 8,700 teachers and educators, construct nearly 300 school classrooms, supply 14,600 school desks and contstruct 1,800 water and sanitation facilities ensuring clean water for schools across the region.
