Badgley Mischka Whips Up Sketches for Auction Benefiting Feeding America
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Badgley Mischka is spotlighting the artistic talent and creativity of its founders and head designers, Mark Badgley and James Mischka, to send messages of love, support and solidarity through art during the pandemic.
The pair has created 35 one-of-a kind sketches, conceived of and created while he and Mischka are isolating at their home in Palm Beach, Fla. Each sketch represents an emotion, mood, thought or feeling brought on by the worldwide health crisis. The designers have partnered with Feeding America, which provides support to their network of food banks across the country and food assistance to those facing hunger.
All 35 sketches will be available on badgleymischka.com as part of an online auction through eBay for Charity. Bidding opens today and runs through May 17. One-hundred percent of the purchase price of each sketch will go directly to Feeding America. Bidding for each sketch opens at $100. Every sketch sold will be personalized for each winner and framed and shipped at no cost, courtesy of Badgley Mischka.
“James and I have been working remotely like most of the world and we just started doodling,” said Badgley. “One goes through such a range of emotions through all these crazy times. I just think that it was through these sketches we could vent a little bit, get inspired by certain things, and the range of emotions from fright to anger to complete paralysis, it’s just a way to express ourselves.
“We started doing these fashion sketches which had these COVID-19 spins on them. I just started posting them on a whim on my Instagram and they just started to take off,” said Badgley.
“Then we started posting on the company one, on Badgley Mischka,” added Mischka. “‘People wanted to know more about them and wanted to buy them,” he said. Their vice president of communications, Rob Caldwell, suggested they form it around a charity and donate 100 percent of the proceeds.
According to Mischka, they started working with Feeding America in February even before COVID-19. “Hunger is a very important problem and Feeding America is a great organization, it doesn’t have a lot of overhead and they really do a great outreach job,” he said.
Among the sketches are a woman in a wedding gown (saying “I Do,”), one in a prom dress, one wearing a cap and gown, and another in a ballgown sporting a mask. On Badgley’s Instagram, he offers up captions such as “Oh, I Want to Dance with Somebody,” “Please….Wrap this Up,” “Chin Up,” “Sit It Out,” “The Beat Goes On,” “Social Distancing Skirt,” “Shake Corona Virus” and “Try to Laugh a Little Bit During These Hard Times.”
The designers plan to do some additional sketches for people who can’t afford them and will post them on Badgley’s Instagram.
Turning to their own business, Badgley said, “We’re trying to figure out through all the madness, what the calendar will be, the existing collections coming through the pipelines and where they’re relevant, and we’re putting together a spring assortment. I have to admit it’s complete chaos.” He said the retailers have been great, and “nobody wants anybody to get hurt. Everyone’s got to bend and bend and bend.”
Launch Gallery: Badgley Mischka Auctions New, Original Sketches for Feeding America
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