Broadcaster Lorraine Keane and Oxfam announce Fashion Relief TV with Axonista

Weekly online show broadcast straight from Lorraine Keane’s home to yours
Viewers can shop sustainably and raise vital funds for Oxfam’s COVID-19 response

Broadcaster Lorraine Keane and Oxfam Ireland are excited to announce a new partnership with interactive video technology company Axonista that will bring the hugely successful Fashion Relief event online. After the fashion fundraiser’s Dublin event was postponed due to COVID-19, Keane and Axonista developed an innovative solution that will bring the rails and catwalk of Fashion Relief into living rooms all over Ireland through Fashion Relief TV, a 30 minute programme aired from Keane’s home every Friday at 7.00pm. The show will also allow viewers to click and buy what they see, raising vital funds for Oxfam’s work worldwide, including their COVID-19 response in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Launching on Friday 12th June 2020, Fashion Relief TV is an always on platform so viewers can watch back and shop at any time. Each Friday at 7.00pm on fashionrelief.ie, Fashion Relief TV will update with new hand-picked clothes, accessories and shoes which can be purchased and posted directly to viewers.

Lorraine Keane said: “It was such a disappointment to have to postpone the rest of our Fashion Relief 2020 events after so much preparation, not to mention the overwhelming amount of designer and premium items we’d been donated.

“So, we are delighted to be partnering with the team at Axonista to bring Fashion Relief online – even though you can’t come to us, we can now bring Fashion Relief straight to you! With Axonista, we’ll be bringing you a fashion programme with a twist! As expected, we’ll be showcasing beautiful pre-loved and brand new pieces from the wardrobes of some of Ireland’s most fashionable women as well as from designers and boutiques all over Ireland, but you’ll also be able to click on the items you love and buy them as the platform works as an online shopping channel too.

“By bagging a bargain from Fashion Relief, you’ll also be shopping more sustainably, helping to divert pre-loved and end of line clothes from landfill, doing your bit for people and planet. What’s not to love?”

Claire McHugh, CEO of Axonista said: "We were delighted to bring our interactive video technology to the aid of Fashion Relief. We’ve learned a lot about shoppable video through our work with global brands like QVC and the Home Shopping Network. This campaign is truly remarkable, both for its inherent sustainability and meaningful impact on communities ravaged by climate change, who need our support now more than ever."

Fashion Relief is part of Oxfam’s solution to ‘throwaway fashion’, encouraging people to donate pre-loved items and reduce the amount of clothes that end up in landfill as well as shopping second-hand to give pre-loved clothes a longer life. Fashion Relief works with retailers, supporting them to donate their end of line or excess stock to us instead of sending it to landfill – a more sustainable solution for people and planet.

Keane continued: “As part of Fashion Relief, I’ve travelled to Ethiopia, Somaliland and more recently Bangladesh to see first-hand how the profits raised help some of the poorest and most at risk people through Oxfam’s work – people made even more vulnerable because of the deadly threat of COVID-19.

“In Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, I met families who live alongside almost one million other Rohingya refugees who fled unimaginable violence in Myanmar. Since then, they have faced the double threat of COVID-19 in an overcrowded and woefully inadequate camp where social distancing is impossible alongside monsoon season and the strongest ever recorded cyclone in Bengal Bay.

“When you support Fashion Relief, you’re helping to raise vital funds for people in dire need in Cox’s Bazar and across the world - funds that are needed more now than ever before.”

Fashion Relief Friday launches on Friday 12th June 2020 at 7.00pm on www.fashionrelief.ie. After that, simply log on any time throughout the week to browse and buy. Every Friday at 7.00pm a new show with new content will be aired so you can bag yourself a bargain from the comfort of your own home.

To find out more, visit www.fashionrelief.ie

ENDS

CONTACT: Lorraine Keane (Fashion Relief with Oxfam) and Claire McHugh (Axonista) are available for interview.

Caroline Reid | caroline.reid@oxfam.org | +353 (0) 87 912 3165

Alice Dawson-Lyons | alice.dawsonlyons@oxfam.org | +353 (0) 83 198 1869

Notes the editor:

"Doortrait" images of Lorraine Keane, Rosanna Davison, Maia Dunphy, Mary Kennedy and Yvonne Melinn are free for use and can be accessed here: https://oxfam.box.com/s/d9vdyhmgmpncq5cnhbgou48iivgee2xc

Suggested Photo Caption:

Broadcaster Lorraine Keane and stars Rosanna Davison, Mary Kennedy, Maia Dunphy and Yvonne Melinn of YStyleIreland took to their doorsteps to announce Fashion Relief TV in partnership with Axonista - a 30 minute programme broadcast straight from Keane's home to yours which allows you to shop while watch and raise funds for Oxfam Ireland. For more, visit: fashionrelief.ie

About Fashion Relief: Fashion Relief is a fundraiser extraordinaire that offers people the unique opportunity to bag a bargain from the wardrobe of their style icon or beloved brand, boutique or designer. It started in May 2018 and has since rolled out annual events in Dublin, Cork and Galway. All profits support Oxfam’s work in some of the world’s poorest countries, helping people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive as well as saving lives when disaster strikes.

About Oxfam Ireland: Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together they save lives and rebuild communities when disaster strikes. They help people build better lives for themselves. They speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality and discrimination against women. And they won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty. Oxfam Ireland is one of 20 Oxfams working in over 90 countries worldwide.

For more, visit oxfamireland.org

About Axonista: Axonista is the award-winning team behind Ediflo, an enterprise-level video technology platform that enables media companies and brands to build interactive video applications across all screens. Based in Dublin and New York, and employing a team of 30, this interactive video technology company helps their customers to tell stories in entirely new ways.

Axonista’s technology powers some of the world’s most popular video streaming apps. Customers include QVC, Virgin Media, The Home Shopping Network, VideoElephant, WaterBear and the Irish Film Institute. Over a ten year history, Axonista has won numerous awards for its ground-breaking work in video, and was recently named one of the 250 most significant Irish Corporations invested in the US.

For more information visit axonista.com