Rags to Riches: 1 Day Pop-Up Boutique Marketplace

For one day only, a pop-up boutique marketplace in a little hutong courtyard by Yugongyishan will be featuring racks and racks of vintage, second-hand, and ready-for-a-new-home clothing.

Additional Bonuses:

• Everyone can enjoy a ’Spring Bar’ serving up sangria, mojitos and mint juleps all day for RMB 10 – RMB 15
• Music by DJ OK
• Nathan Zhang and Brandnu’s new fashion line UPCYCLE – beautiful pieces re-using vintage fabrics and created by a handful of designers.
• Sun and Fun!

All proceeds raised during this event will be going to support brandnu and it’s development projects working with migrant women.

“Brand Nu, the first charity shop of its kind in Beijing (more info here: http://bit.ly/iCbwCU and here: http://bit.ly/iEwiGT), is facing serious repercussions if it cannot pay 2 years advance rent for its Wudaoying space by mid-June 2011.”

Any clothing not sold will also go back to Brand Nu for re-design and re-sale or directly to women in rural areas.

Event Details:

• Date: Sunday, May 22
• Time: 2PM-6PM
• Location: Hutong Gourtyard
• Address: 1 Shiqiao Hutong (big red door) which comes directly off Dongsi Batiao (east entrance on Chaonei Beixiaojie), Dongcheng, Beijing. 北京市东城区朝内北小街东四八条东口石桥胡同1号

• Contact: sophia.mckinnon@googlemail.com

Join the Effort to Save Brandnü with Gungho! Pizza

Brandnu (Wudaoying Hutong No 61 West) is a Beijing-based store and artisan network that connects the energy of young urban designers with the age-old traditions of Chinese craftsmanship. Their shop collects clothes, books, and unwanted goods to be sold, recycled and reused, with all profits directly benefiting rural women in China. They also stock handicrafts from various NGO supported projects as a means to both introduce traditional arts and to enable rural women to be economically independent.

A great store and business concept that is doing its part to make a difference, brandnü faces losing its store at Wudaoying Hutong unless it can pay up-front for 2 years rent (RMB 84,000!) by June 15, 2011.

As part of a fundraising effort to ‘save brandnü’, Gungho! Pizza will be joining them in the biggest pizza party of the season together with a special preview of their new (re)cycled, (re)designed, and (re)fashioned line: Yi+Yi.

Event details:

• Date: Sunday, May 1
• Time: Noon till pizza runs out
• Location: Brandnü Store
• Address: Wudaoying Hutong No 61 West
• Contact: Nathan Zhang，Email brandnuproject@gmail.com，Tel: +86 15011153421

Drink with Wokai for a Better World @ Scarlett

This Tuesday, August 3rd, Wokai will be organizing their monthly event – Drinks for a Better World (DFBW) @ Hotel G’s Scarlett Wine Bar & Restaurant.

This month’s Wokai event will be featuring Nathan Zhang, Founder of brandnü:

Event details:

• Date: Tuesday, August 3rd
• Time: 7:3oPM-9:30PM
• Location: Hotel G’s Scarlett Wine Bar & Restaurant
• Address: No. A7 Gongtixilu, 朝阳区工体西路甲7
• Tel: 6552-2600

Wokai Background:

Wokai is a not-for-profit organization committed to alleviating poverty in China. Wokai (wo3kai1 我开 in Chinese) means “I start” and refers to the the opportunity that our organization provides to Chinese micro-entrepreneurs to start small businesses, start change in their own lives, and lift themselves and their families out of poverty. www.wokai.org

Beijing’s First Ethical Trade Fair by brandnü

What you can expect to see at Beijing’s first ethical trade fair: Local Goodies on sale along with live music, Greek snacks and iced drinks on the rooftop patio of Argo Greek Restaurant overlooking Wudaoying Hutong.

Highlights: The best of China’s artisans and a talk by China’s most prominent women’s rights advocate, Wu Qing.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: From 1969-2000, Wu Qing was an esteemed professor of English at Beijing Foreign Studies University. She has served since 1984 as a Deputy to the Beijing Haidan District People’s Congress, focusing on the rule of law and transparency in government. Professor Wu Qing is a well-known advocate for women’s rights in China and the 2001 recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, also known as “Asia’s Nobel Prize.” She was nominated by the Schwab Foundation Network as one of the World’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs of 2003.

Local Beijing Goodies: Organic honey and coffee, contemporary clothing designs, and hand-crafted silver jewelry.

Event Host: brandnü, a Beijing-based store and artisan network that connects the energy of young urban designers with the age-old traditions of Chinese craftsmanship.

Event Details:

• Date: Saturday, July 10
• Time: 1:00-5:00PM (3PM talk by Wu Qing)
• Location: Argo Greek Restaurant (Rooftop Terrace) 59 Wudaoying Hutong (down the street from Vineyard Cafe & Saffron)
• Contact: Nathan Zhang，Email brandnuproject@gmail.com，Tel: +86 15011153421

For more information, check out: www.brandnuproject.com