Robin Green hopped down a line of stairs at Mira Costa in shin-high, charcoal-colored boots, a forest-green knit jacket and a feather earring dangling from her left ear. The 16-year-old high school junior loves to shop – whether that means sifting though her grandmother’s closet for vintage clothes, or scrolling through and getting fashion ideas from lookbook.nu online, where people post pictures of their favorite outfits.
Aspiring for a career in fashion merchandising or styling, Green also has passion for volunteering and community service. With the desire to mix her two interests, she formed Charitable Couture, a fashion-related community service club at Mira Costa, sponsored by the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. “Clothes are involved in everything,” Green said, adding, “Everybody’s always going to need something, whether socks or a jacket.”
The club has about two dozen members.
This holiday season, Charitable Couture is adopting two families in need, Green said, with the money it raised selling Snapple at the Hometown Fair. “If I love shopping, and I love making a difference, then why not get other people involved? Why not try to help out people in need?” Green said.
Green is also planning a shoe drive with Soles for Life, an organization that collects donated shoes, and sells them to an exporter to raise funds to bring water purification materials to developing nations. “Everybody has a pair of shoes in their closet that they don’t wear or doesn’t fit anymore, and they just haven’t given it away. It’s just sitting there collecting dust, so why not give it?” she said.
Charitable Couture will collect shoes from Manhattan Beach elementary schools in coming months.
