THE I FEMME PROJECT
Inspired by empowering women, the project was initiated in late 2016 by Vietnamese fine art photographer Viet Ha Tran and Ukrainian fashion brand Simplifi´s Co-Founder and Creative Director Tetyana Kretova. The artwork of I Femme, through Simplifi´s symbolic white shirts and stylish regional clothing, will draw a picture of modern, independent, liberal and successful women of the 21st century who are the owners of their destiny while still maintaining their cultural identity.
"I FEMME" is an art photography project initiated by Vietnamese fine art photographer Viet Ha Tran and Ukrainian fashion brand Simplifi´s Co-Founder and Creative Director Tetyana Kretova. Inspired by empowering women and tremendously enthusiastic about developing talent, Viet Ha and Tetyana have decided to join forces to create an art project that aims to develop and nurture girls´ talent. Driven by their passion for changing the world coupled with a strong interest in art and fashion, their new initiative is slated to launch in late 2017.
THE STORY BEHIND
Viet Ha and Tetyana, who are both strong believers in women´s talent and hold a great deal of mutual respect and admiration for each other´s spirit and talent, started planning this art project together since October 2016 with the aim of empowering women through drawing a picture of how globalization has enabled women to live their dreams and how women have evolved to hold very successful careers while maintaining their identity and culture.
In December 2016, Viet Ha, during her backpacking trip in Nepal, while walking down the busy, dusty streets of Kathmandu, she stumbled into a bookshop, losing herself amidst hundreds of inspirational books about climbing Everest. One specific book captured her complete attention. It documented the very motivational life of John Wood who left his successful career as a Microsoft executive to change the world of children in developing countries through founding Room to Read. His idea, coincidentally, was also the result of a creative spark during his backpacking trip in Kathmandu and Nepal.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The artwork that will be produced from "I FEMME" will be acquired by art collectors, galleries, museums and those who are advocates of charity projects and making an impact through a range of exhibitions, auctions, and cultural events that will take place in different cities around the world. 100% of the net profit from the artwork sales (and sales of the symbolic white shirts that the models will wear for the photo shooting) will be directly donated to the non-profit organization Room to Read which helps to build schools for poor children in Asian developing countries including India, Nepal and Vietnam, and also provides scholarships for girls without access to education.
Room to Read, with headquarters in San Francisco, USA, is a leading non-profit focused on girls' education and children's literacy in Asia and Africa. The Founders of I Femme believe that the vision of Room to Read best fits the concept of the project.
The Founders
VIET HA TRAN
(Fine Art Photographer)
Viet Ha is a Vietnam-born and Spain-based fine art photographer known for her emotionally dense and endlessly compelling photographs of women. Her art emphasizes fantasy and imagination as a source of aesthetic experience. Her work has appeared in El Economista, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair France, The Times of India, Vietnam News, Vietnam Television, at Saatchi Gallery London, and has been auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong for charity. She is listed as global artist by Artprice, the world leader in art market information, and has been represented by Art+Commerce/Vogue Italia, the largest global photo agency based in New York. Starting photography in 2013 as an enthusiastic hobbyist photographer until the present, Viet Ha’s artwork has been published in over 120 different magazines and newspapers around the world. Her artwork is collected by galleries, auction houses, luxury hotels, art dealers and more around the world. See her art here Passionate about changing the world since a very young age, Viet Ha believes that education is a powerful weapon which can be used to make change happen and that art is another powerful tool that helps changing a person´s inner world and vision. Now currently working both in the fields of education and art, Viet Ha is fulfilling her life´s dream and plans to work on many art projects dedicated to charity in the future.TETYANA KRETOVA
(Co-Founder & Creative Director of Simplifi)
Born Ukrainian, Tetyana is an international business professional based in Spain. Throughout her tenure she has always held an active social position of creating positive impact on the lives of people, founding a national organization for young leaders, JCI, which supports NGOs dealing with issues related to increasing economic opportunities. Her most recent venture Simplifi, where she serves as Creative Director and Co-Founder, is a socially committed white shirt company for women with character. The brand does not only aim at providing high quality products but also encourages women to be true to themselves. Successful CEOs and top managers are among brand clients, since the brand aims at people who set positive examples for success. The shirts are created and produced in Ukraine at the social enterprise Barvysta which employs women in need. The artistic photographs of “IF – I Femme” will use Simplifi´s white shirts to draw a picture of modern, independent, global and successful women of the 21st century who are the owners of their destiny.
