Liberate Apparel Hopes to Free Women

You're worth more than this.

That's the message Jackie King wants to send to the women of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, women selling drugs and prostituting themselves to support families.

The 24-year-old Aliso Viejo resident and her friend Melanie Hunley are creating a clothing line  to be sold in the United States that will provide jobs to women in those impoverished nations.

"When I went to Haiti my heart broke," King said. "And I fell in love [with the people]."

Their Liberate clothing line of dresses, shirts, blazers and skirts using silk and organic fabrics will range in price from about $20 to $170 made by women in those countries, they said.

King and Hunley aim to empower women by offering education, training and a living wage.

"We don't want to completely change their culture and say 'we know how to do be better,'" she said. "We want to give them resources."

They hope to hire a manager, manager's assistant, floor manager and garment makers to run the clothing operation themselves while paying them a living wage. They plan to release their Fall line later this year and King says they're still trying to figure out what a good living wage is.

"I went to the Dominican Republic for a week and my life changed," said Hunley, who wants to use her fashion degree to help people. "I came back and knew I couldn't live life normal here."

They have a Kickstarter project to get them started looking to raise $2,000.
The idea is to show women their "true beauty" and worth by providing a way to earn a living.

"We want to change the DNA of the whole community," said King.