Michelle Obama launches one-of-a-kind campaign with Saks Fifth Avenue

 

The luxury retailer unveiled its iconic holiday windows and light show with a special appearance by Michelle Obama.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s support of the Girls Opportunity Alliance includes a $1 million donation, a curated multi-vendor merchandise collection, dedicated holiday window displays, a Saks career shadowing opportunity and a digital campaign throughout the holiday season.

This week, Saks Fifth Avenue celebrated the launch of its holiday campaign in support of the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance. The campaign kicks off with the unveiling of Saks Fifth Avenue’s iconic holiday window display and ten-story-tall theatrical light show at its New York flagship, featuring a special appearance by former First Lady of the United States and founder of the Girls Opportunity Alliance, Michelle Obama, and a performance by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

GIRLS OPPORTUNITY ALLIANCE CAMPAIGN

The Girls Opportunity Alliance, a program of the Obama Foundation, seeks to empower adolescent girls around the world through education, allowing them to achieve their full potential and transform their families, communities and countries. Saks Fifth Avenue’s support includes a $1 million donation to the Obama Foundation in support of the Girls Opportunity Alliance, a curated multi-vendor merchandise collection, holiday window displays at the Saks New York flagship, a Saks career shadowing opportunity for three young women from the Girls Opportunity Alliance community from Girls Inc., and a digital campaign featuring special content throughout the holiday season.

“In the spirit of holiday giving, Saks is making a generous donation that will help so many adolescent girls all over the world,” said Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States and founder of the Girls Opportunity Alliance. “This contribution to the Girls Opportunity Alliance will help these girls to reach their full potential—and that’s especially important as the pandemic continues to threaten their education, which would set us all back in the years and decades ahead. I’m excited to see the impact of this wonderful gift from Saks and how it can help support the work of the Girls Opportunity Alliance around the world.”

The multi-vendor merchandise collection, curated by Saks in support of the Girls Opportunity Alliance, features products across all categories including women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, accessories, kids, home and beauty items. Participating designers include Bond No. 9, Brandon Blackwood, Christopher John Rogers, Fear of God, Jason Wu, NEST New York, Oscar de la Renta, Phillip Lim, Posh Peanut, and Sergio Hudson, among others. 100% of this collection’s net proceeds** from online sales on saks.com and at participating Saks Fifth Avenue stores will be donated to The Obama Foundation in support of the Girls Opportunity Alliance.

The holiday window installation featuring the Girls Opportunity Alliance is located on 49th Street at the Saks Fifth Avenue New York flagship, on display now through the end of December.

On Giving Tuesday, November 30, designer Phillip Lim and Executive Director of the Girls Opportunity Alliance Tiffany Drake will host a virtual event on Saks’ digital events platform, Saks Live, to discuss the importance of giving back this holiday season and the meaningful work the organization does to empower adolescent girls.

Additionally, Saks will provide a career shadowing opportunity to three young women from the Girls Opportunity Alliance community from Girls Inc. to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to operate a luxury eCommerce platform. The program will kick off during the 2021 holiday season, and continue with learning opportunities with multiple teams across the Saks business throughout 2022.

This year, Saks’ legendary center six windows on Fifth Avenue are inspired by the theme of reconnecting with family and loved ones during the holiday season.

To bring this theme to life, Saks asked New York-area children, including members of the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, to draw and describe what they dream of doing with loved ones for the holidays.

Their responses—including carnivals, sweets, games and getaways—have been brought to life in over-the-top, artful and fantastical ways in the world’s most famous windows.

Saks’ spectacular light show is synonymous with the holiday season in New York and each year draws visitors from across the globe. This year’s light show, on display now through Tuesday, January 4, features a dazzling display of over 700,000 programmed LED lights on the ten-story-tall facade of the building. The music accompanying the light show is an energetic medley based on the theme of reconnecting with one another this holiday season, featuring Darlene Love’s “Christmas–Baby Please Come Home” and The Turtles’ “So Happy Together,” as well as Carol of the Bells, The Nutcracker’s Russian Dance and more.