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STYLE OF GENEROSITY sew good PHILANTHROPY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN STYLE AT SARA CAMPBELL'S WELLESLEY BOUTIQUE, AND NOW AT HER OUTPOSTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BY LEANNE PHILIP 88 Sara Campbell anticipates her spring Dress for a Cause event. Events have included Kids Clothes Club, with the store selling $20 hangers that each represent a new winter coat for a child in need, and Girls Night Out, an evening of shopping in which a percentage of the night's earnings go to such charities as the Ellie Fund and Pine Street Inn. To be doubly sure these events are speaking to the heart of the Sara Campbell customer, the designer has set up notebooks near the registers in her stores that ask patrons to list the local organizations they would like to support. Campbell then reaches out to a specified organization and creates an evening to remember. With so many different opportunities to give back, some might find it hard to choose their favorite. For Campbell, however, there's no contest. Now entering its seventh year, the designer's annual Dress for a Cause fundraiser is one of her favorite nights. Supporting such causes as The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and, this year, St. Jude, the ticketed event features a silent auction, a fashion show starring local women and children, and live music. Last year's event garnered more than $100,000, and this spring Campbell hopes to raise even more. And she's taken her community focus national by engaging with the charities that matter to the customers of her new Lake Forest, Illinois, store and her e-commerce site. Linden Square, 200 Linden St., Wellesley, 781-235-1321; saracampbell.com BC Interior of the Concord store. SPRING GIVING SARA CAMPBELL LTD. OFFERS A CHANCE TO GIVE AT THESE UPCOMING FUNDRAISERS. April 17, 2013: Mount Auburn Hospital Fashion Show & Luncheon at the Oakley Country Club, 410 Belmont St., Watertown May 15, 2013: Dress for a Cause at the Wellesley Country Club, 300 Wellesley Ave., Wellesley June 21, 2013: Paws for a Cause, Animal Rescue League of Southern Rhode Island Fashion Show, at The Dunes Club, 137 Boston Neck Road, Narragansett, RI PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF SARA CAMPBELL F or Sara Campbell, doing good is just as important as looking good. Founder of the Boston-based Sara Campbell Ltd., the designer charges herself—and her brand—with being a "constant supporter and advocate of working for the common good." Press her a little on what exactly that means and Campbell states simply, "We are all about service. Service to our customers, to each other, and to our community." This belief is the driving force behind her almost 30-year career in the design industry. Born and raised in La Jolla, California, Campbell discovered her love of fabric at the age of 4, when she would create clothing for her dolls. Later she made dance-party dresses and "wearable art" pieces, such as a vest fashioned from her father's old bow ties (unfortunately, that piece was lost to an old boyfriend). Today, Campbell's models are slightly larger than your average Barbie, but as always, she keeps the client first and foremost in her mind. "We are in this to please our customer. That is my job," the designer says. "It is our responsibility to engage with what is important to her, and what is important to our community. It gives us a bigger purpose, other than just making clothes." It's a responsibility that Campbell takes very seriously—first by ensuring that 99 percent of Sara Campbell Ltd. products are made in the US, guaranteeing jobs and security for many, but also by taking the time to find out what really matters to her customers. When she opened her second store, in Wellesley's Linden Square in May 2009, Campbell held a fundraiser there, an event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Four years later, she has 10 stores across the US (with plans to grow that number to 15 by year's end) Striped dress and still hosts evenings of ($178) from the Early Summer fashion and fun to raise collection. money for good causes. Channel 5 reporter Kelley Tuthill and her daughters at a 2012 Sara Campbell show. BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 088_BC_SS_StyleofGenerosity_Spring13.indd 88 2/11/13 2:54 PM