Beginning tonight, Roosevelt Island will be aglow in support of March for Our Lives, the gun control marches set for around the world tomorrow, March 24. Prabal Gurung is partnering with Skylight Studios to create the light installation, which will be illuminated from 6 to 11 p.m. both Friday and Saturday evenings. The project, which is done with support from Rolling Stone magazine, features the work of light artist Bentley Meeker.
“I’ve always believed in using my platform to advocate against the injustices so many face in our modern society, and it is becoming painstakingly apparent how imminent the threat of gun violence is in America,” Gurung said. “Our lives are at risk; on average, 96 Americans are killed with guns each day, and the risk is even higher for women, minorities and children. Gun violence is a major threat in our country, but so is the prominence of ignorance and apathy. We cannot stay quiet or still. Now more than ever, it is time for us to work together to create change, to give students a path to design a more beautiful tomorrow.”
The installation, called “Freedom From Fear,” will take over Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park and will be visible from all five boroughs. It will feature four pillars of light, to symbolize the Four Freedoms, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s list of basic human rights: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
Gurung is behind the installation’s bold color palette, a reflection of his brand ethos being “stronger in color.”
The anti-gun movement also has the support of other fashion designers and brands. Building off its donation of $500,000 to March For Our Lives, which was announced last month, Gucci executives and employees planned to join the crowds marching in Washington D.C. and in other U.S. cities Saturday. As a warm-up event, the artist Cleo Wade and Teen Vogue’s Elaine Welteroth cohosted a gathering in Gucci’s New York offices. While attendees decorated T-shirts and signs printed with Wade’s artwork, she offered some words of encouragement and a few notes on gun control and the march itself.
Christian Siriano also planned to show his support for the anti-gun efforts. The designer will be marching in New York this weekend. He joined the fashion council for the Everytown for Gun Safety group late last year. After the shooting at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., Julianne Moore has been instrumental in helping to garner the support of people in creative industries for Everytown for Gun Safety’s four million-person movement. Another designer Maria Cornejo planned to join all of her Zero Maria Cornejo staffers walking in the New York march, and posting all about on the company’s social media channels.
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