Fashion Week Takes on Homelessness with Christina Milian, JWoww and Bravolebs.
BY HILARY GEORGE-PARKIN FEB 10, 2017, 2:32PM EST
"A key part of the campaign, the hashtag #ItCanBeYou, is supposed to convey the idea that under different circumstances, anyone could be homeless. “I think a lot of people that are fortunate — that have support, have friends, have family — they don’t understand that a lot of times, homelessness isn’t an option, it’s a life circumstance that takes them that way,” says Guimaraes. “When you get really far down and you have no one to pick you back up, it’s hard to get back up on your own. It’s really to get people to be more compassionate.”
While they may not be walking the runway, a handful of people in attendance do have some personal experience with homelessness, including two of the night’s performers: Lucas Asher, the lead singer of the band Faulkner, and a Brooklyn rapper named Young MG.
Asher and the band Faulkner, who performed at the event.
Asher, who spent time on the streets of New York in his youth, doesn’t dwell on the negatives of his past. “I think it could happen to anybody, that's true,” he says. “But if you look at everybody here celebrating, it's not about how bad it is, it's about what's possible, so I tend to look at it in an aspirational way.” Today, he splits his time between his hometown and Venice, California, and last year his band released an EP produced by Wu Tang Clan’s RZA.
Young MG’s struggles aren’t quite behind him yet; I talk to him at the end of the night, after the last performer has packed up and the DJ is entreating the dwindling crowd to dance to a steady stream of Chris Brown and Bruno Mars. He wears a yellow hoodie and sweatpants and a backwards Yankees fitted. “I pulled up to show some love for the homeless people, because I too went through the homelessness and I'm still facing it,” he says.
“I have felonies, I'm a project kid, I've lived a hard life,” he explains, about three inches from my ear so I can hear over the music. “It's not my fault, it's the cards that I was dealt. But if you don't have a job, then it's hard to take care of yourself, to provide, to live your dreams. Everything costs money, and nobody's going to give it to you. You have to pay to get your way up, and then people will help you up.” At some point, I realize it’s the first story of homelessness I’ve heard all night. A minute later, though, he’s moved on. “Look me up on Facebook,” he says, and when I do, I see a few dozen photos and videos from the night — selfies, videos, shot after shot of Milian, and the requisite red carpet photos, though this time, without a cardboard sign in sight."
S.C.R.D. was proud to sponsor Young MG and The NYLON Project. Sweet Chuck closed out the event with a live performance of his soon to release, new single titled, "Art Bless America." This live performance featured professional dancers Dre and King Soup from Los Angeles, choreographed by King Shaw. If you missed these two performances you're in luck, and can catch them again, along with the rest of the Campfire Crew in April, on Thursday the 20th, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at the Delancey, located at 168 Delancey Street, Manhattan, New York.
