Gucci along with Beyoncé, Salma and Frida Chime For Change

Gucci has a long history of supporting women’s rights movements – including a seven-year partnership with UNICEF in aid of promoting girls’ education – and also as founding two female film awards: the Spotlighting Women Documentary Award and the Gucci Award for Women in Cinema with the Venice Film Festival.

Their new movement Chime For Change’s focal points are education, health and justice; to unite and strengthen voices speaking out for vulnerable girls and women. The initiative aims to raise funds and awareness supporting girls and women’s empowerment projects around the world through sharing ‘powerful stories’ about inspiring females.

The three front-running women are Beyoncé Knowles, Salma Hayek and Frida Giannini; all three strong independent figures in today’s world.

Beyoncé explains why she decided to lend her support: “I have always felt strongly about equal opportunity for women. Girls have to be taught from early on that they are strong and capable of being anything they want to be. It’s up to us to change the statistics for women around the world. I’m honoured to be in the company of women who live fearlessly and set an example for the next generation of young ladies.”

The Chime For Change campaign stands united with an A-list advisory board, including Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Jada Pinkett Smith, Francois-Henri Pinault, Gordon and Sarah Brown, and Arianna Huffington.

Salma, who played a large role in the campaign, said, “I am proud to be joining the growing international movement on behalf of girls and women around the world. I believe that by working together we can change the course of history to ensure that girls and women are empowered to realise their potential and thrive.”

Frida Giannini, Designer and Creative Director for Gucci, believes, “This is the emergency and the opportunity of today. We have reached a significant moment in the history of girls’ and women’s empowerment and now is the time for change. I think it is essential for girls and women to see and celebrate what is possible. I hope that through Chime we can help the voices calling for change to become so loud that they cannot be ignored.”

Through its partner Catapult, Chime For Change encourages people throughout the world to support girls and women’s projects in a personalised, individual way. Catapult enables citizen philanthropy and is the first crowd-funding platform dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women. Catapult connects Chime For Change community members directly to organisations and projects focused on the causes that matter most to them, and currently represents over 50 organisations in 38 countries.

Women have a voice regardless of ethnicity. Far too many are oppressed worldwide. It is certainly time to Chime For Change!

Pooja Sahny