Something's that's very dear to the heart of Sophia and Pilar

No, to be honest, it's not actually Donation Dollar. Or, to be more accurate, it's not specifically Donation Dollar. What is very dear to our heart is helping others.

One of the reasons why we founded this fashion brand was to help others.

To help other women, like us, who wanted and couldn't find elegant, simple, stylish, quality dresses which can be effortlessly styled up or down to suit the occasion, which fit into our busy lives and make us look gorgeous and feel gorgeous in a stress-free snippet of time.

We also wanted to use our brand to help other women not only to look elegant, but to live elegant lives. Helping, discovering, learning together, how to lead a life every day that strives to be better than yesterday.

And one of the ways in which every woman can be more elegant and make today better than yesterday is by helping others.  

Did you know this is scientifically proven?

There are four hormones which help promote happiness and pleasure while reducing depression and anxiety. You'll have heard of them all before: serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin; this is not a brain physiology lesson, but something I heard the other day while listening to a podcast (which I'd highly recommend:  "Simon Sinek, A Little bit of Optimism") was that

• Serotonin is produced in our brain when we do something to help someone else
• Oxytocin is produced in our brain and makes us feel good when someone does something good for us or to us, AND when we witness someone doing good to someone else

Which brings us back to Donation Dollar! September 5th is the International Day of Charity and I heard on the radio an interview about the genesis of Donation Dollar, a coin designed and released by The Royal Australian Mint in 2020, and I was intrigued, so I read up about it when I got home.

Creativity comes in all forms, and this one is amazing. It was inspired by the desire to change the perception of the power of the world’s oldest form of currency – the coin, to inspire all Australians to donate to those who need it most and to create new stream of donations for causes, charities and those in need.

I was blown away!

The freshness of the idea and how all elements of the design of the coin - and a coin itself - were carefully thought out and brought into play, and that's how I like to design. Our linen dresses are very carefully and thoughtfully designed to have a comfortable and good fit with all aspects of the wearer's needs being taken into account. Designed with love, just like the Donation Dollar.

The Donation Dollar is legal tender and doesn't have to be donated. You can, or you can hang onto it, but within two months, 53% of the original release in 2020 was found to have been donated. The "Call to Action" (or CTA for the marketing gurus!) is "Give to help others". Go Australia! 

It's also designed so if you're a tap-and-go kind of person, like me, you can keep  it as a visible reminder to make a donation to a charity of your choice somewhere along the line.

A further five million have been released to mark International Day of Charity 2022 and with the average lifespan of an Australian coin being 30 years, the Donation Dollar will remain in circulation for decades to come, being donated over and over again on a continuous loop of generosity.

I was so impressed, and so proud of our country.

Sources:

https://caples.org/2021-winners-results/?id=35&cat=Ambient%2FGuerilla%2FOutdoor

https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2022/09/04/international-charity-day-dollar/