Join Zoe in Support of Denim Day – April 23, 2014

One of the reasons I love fashion is that what you wear can not only make a statement, but it can help create a movement.

On Wednesday April 23, 2014, people across the country will be wearing jeans on “Denim Day” as a visible means of protest against misconceptions that surround sexual assault. This rape prevention education campaign has been organized by Peace Over Violence since 1999.

For the third year in a row, Zoe will be supporting the mission of Denim Day by wearing jeans, providing information from the Alexandria Sexual Assault Center and offering a 25% discount on ALL denim in the store!

The very first Denim Day started off as a protest after an Italian court ruling suggested that a woman cannot be raped if she is wearing jeans because “they are impossible to remove unless she helps.” This “denim defense” sparked global interest.

According to the Peace Over Violence website, “Enraged by the verdict, within a matter of hours the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action and protested by wearing jeans to work. This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same, which in turn spread to Patricia Giggans, Executive Director of Peace Over Violence, and Denim Day in LA was born. The first Denim Day in LA was in April 1999, and has continued every year since.”

I love the message behind this day. We can take a stand and turn misconceptions into social awareness simply by showing solidarity and in this case - wearing our denim.

I hope you will stop by Zoe on April 23 to pick up a pair of our Red Engine jeans.  We carry four styles – Ruby (boot leg), Cinder (straight leg), Scorchers (skinny) and Firebrand (tailored for curvy figures).  

Please join me in supporting Denim Day this year. Here are some important reasons why you should:

• Nearly 1 in 5 women in a national survey say they have been raped (CDCP)
• Only 3 out of every 100 rapists will ever spend a single day in prison (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
• The majority (54%) of rapes are still not reported (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
• Only about 1 out of 4 reported rapes leads to an arrest. Similarly, only about 1 out of 4 arrests leads to a felony conviction and incarceration (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
• 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (National Institute for Justice and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)