Prada will donate its proceeds from Sotheby’s Tools of Memory auction to UNESCO’s COVID-19 Global Education Coalition’s work on girls’ education
Prada will donate the proceeds raised at the Tools of Memory auction, held with Sotheby’s from 2-15 October, to UNESCO’s COVID-19 Global Education Coalition’s initiatives on girls’ education, in particular the work of the Coalition’s Gender Flagship and its campaign entitled Keeping girls in the picture.
Every one-of-a-kind item sold and 595 bids drove the total amount raised to US$514,453/439,362€, surpassing the pre-sale estimate of 248,600-337,200€. The 72-piece auction saw bidders from 27 countries pushing almost half the items to prices beyond their top estimates.
“The generosity witnessed during the auction thanks to this valued partnership with Prada is a true motivation for UNESCO’s efforts on education”, said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education. “We believe everyone has a role to play in ensuring learning never stops for every girl and young woman around the world.”
The global initiatives under UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition are leading efforts to safeguard learning for students around the world after the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19. At the peak of the pandemic, the education of more than 1.5 billion children and youth – 90% of the world’s students – was disrupted, disproportionately impacting girls and young women, for whom education is often a lifeline.
“At Prada, we are extremely proud that our Tools of Memory auction was 100% sold. We would like to thank Sotheby’s and all the bidders for their generous participation and for helping UNESCO in their educational programmes, actions that we all truly believe in”, said Prada.
Items featured in the online auction were original pieces from the Prada Fall/Winter 2020 Men’s and Women’s fashion shows, including garments worn by models, backstage photography, artefacts, and objects from the runway décor.
Leading up to the auction, an online event highlighted the importance of girls’ education amid a crisis-stricken education system and demonstrated the need for more innovative partnerships and investments for girls’ education.
The Global Education Coalition was launched by UNESCO in March 2020 to protect the right to education during this unprecedented crisis. It currently brings together over 150 members from the UN family, civil society, academia and the private sector, among others. The Gender Flagship is a collaborative platform working to address the gender dimensions of COVID-19’s impact on education and safeguard progress made on gender equality in education.