DUBAI: Dutch Moroccan Egyptian model Imaan Hammam and British Moroccan runway star Nora Attal have taken to Instagram to show their support for Loewe’s Knot on My Planet campaign, which seeks to protect elephants from poaching and trafficking.
The Spanish luxury brand is donating all the bag’s sales proceeds to the Elephant Crisis Fund, which aims to stop poaching, prevent trafficking and end the demand for ivory.
For her part, Attal posted a collage of black and white photos in which she can be seen posing with the bag. She captioned the post: “Happy to share with you this @LOEWE Elephant basket bag (that) has been created in collaboration with the #KnotOnMyPlanet campaign. Its eyes are hand-beaded by Samburu craftswomen.”
Meanwhile, Hammam posted a candid close up of the woven, elephant-shaped bag to Instagram Stories with the hashtag #KnotOnMyPlanet — a nod to the adage that tying a knot ensures you remember, and the saying “an elephant never forgets.”
According to the campaign’s website, $11.4 million has been raised since September 2016 for The Elephant Crisis Fund, which is a joint initiative of Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network, in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The aim is to end poaching for ivory as, according to the website, 100,000 African elephants were killed for ivory between 2012-2012 alone.
Hammam and Attal aren’t the only famous faces to get involved in the campaign.
Danish supermodel Helena Christensen, who shot to fame in the 1980s, also took to Instagram to show her support, writing: “Did you know that elephants are among the most social and intelligent animals on earth? This beautiful @Loewe basket bag, hand-beaded by the Samburi craftswomen, has been created in collaboration with the #KnotOnMyPlanet campaign with all proceeds going to the @ElephantCrisisFund helping secure a future for elephants and bringing elephant poaching and the ivory crisis to the forefront of the conversation.”
US models Lily Aldridge, Amber Valletta and Carolyn Murphy also showed their support, with the latter writing: “Did you know that the elephant is the largest land animal and that they communicate through vibrations? We must help protect these gentle giants by raising awareness and supporting foundations that ensure their safety from poachers.”
The handbag features colorful beadwork by Samburu craftswomen from Kenya’s northern frontier district and Loewe’s logo woven in black embroidery.