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  Billabong Women's Brand Director Candy Harris

Billabong’s Design For Humanity is only in its fourth year, but has grown exponentially since Billabong Women’s Brand Director Candy Harris brainstormed the fundraising event.

This year, Design for Humanity is making a big leap to a new, much larger location on the back lot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

We asked Candy some questions about the upcoming event, how she got the idea for Design for Humanity in the first place, and how she manages all the details.

The fashion-music-art block party on June 10 will feature two concert stages, DJ dance parties, a runway fashion show showcasing one of a kind Billabong bikinis, a custom art gallery in partnership with The Carmichael Gallery, live art installations, Hit+Run live t-shirt screen printing, food trucks, a VIP street, and more.

Electroclash duo Fischerspooner headlines the event, and 100% of ticket sales and proceeds from art show and product collaboration auction sales are being donated to Invisible Children, an organization raising awareness and funds for families affected by the long-standing war in Uganda, Africa.

To buy tickets and for more information, go to designforhumanity.com.

Why is Design For Humanity (DFH) moving to a new location?

Candy Harris: After selling out the Avalon venue for the past three years, we thought it was time to step it up! Not only does the new location at Paramount studios offer up the opportunity for more people to experience DFH, but it’s allowed us to take the concept to a whole new level.

From a fundraising standpoint, a larger capacity allows us to raise more money (we donate 100% of all ticket sales). From a creative aspect we get to host a huge outdoor block party with two concert stages, 4 DJs, live art installations, world-renowned art show, photography exhibits, food trucks, etc. The event has evolved into a big street festival celebrating one of the most inspirational charities we’ve had the pleasure to work with.

How did you select the charity this year?

Every year we sit down and brainstorm a list of worthy causes and organizations that we feel have a good connection to our audience.

Once we explored more about Invisible Children we were blown away by what they have accomplished, and more importantly, the fact that the organization was founded by three guys in their early twenties and has inspired hundreds of thousands of teens across the country.

Invisible Children seeks to end the longest running war in Africa, hoping to disband the LRA and remove rebel leader Joseph Kony, who abducts children and forces them to fight as child soldiers. It’s a horrific atrocity that is happening in our time and these kids and their story have been “invisible” until IC helped promote their plea among their peers back in the States.

Creating a documentary film back in 2003, IC grew a cult following of passionate teens and twenty somethings, and after a lot of legislative pressure, marches on Washington and grassroots fundraising, they are seeing their hard work result in concrete action.

The CEO and the founders of Invisible Children were invited to attend a formal ceremony in the Oval Office with President Obama this past Monday to watch as he signed the Invisible Children-promoted bill into law, which requires the current administration to develop a plan to help disarm the LRA within 180 days.

It’s a huge accomplishment and shows what voice young Americans have when they take the time to get involved.

On Page 2: the genesis for the DFH, and how it’s grown.

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How did you get the idea for DFH in the first place?

I wanted to create an event that would help inspire young people to get involved with the world around them and hopefully motivate them to make a difference. When you’re young it’s easy to get the feeling that if you don’t have thousands of dollars to donate that your voice will get lost.

The idea behind DFH was to showcase various non-profits in a non-traditional way. We didn’t want it to be a lecture, we wanted it to be all about creativity and celebrating the good work that is being done by these groups. And for $30 you are getting a live concert, fashion show and art show – and more importantly are being exposed to some amazing organizations.

The idea evolved organically to focus on the fashion, music and art components as our creative release and each year we hope to push the envelope a bit further. We’re always searching for ways to keep the momentum going and continue to raise funds for the beneficiaries we support.

We introduced Billabong Runway last Spring, which takes 7-10 swimsuits straight off of our DFH catwalk into production, with $5 of every suit being donated to that year’s charity. It’s amazing what happens when you have a feel-good event on your hands.

It’s a labor of love for our company and a great opportunity to break the barriers of what is expected from a surf brand.

It has grown so much – did you ever expect your initial vision to turn into this?

The goal from the beginning was to “think big” so this year’s event is right on track. It’s a lot of additional work for our design teams and marketing staff so the growth of the event is due to the dedication of the teams of people that pull together to make it happen.

Within the past year the concept went global with Billabong Europe and Australia as well as Brazil hosting upcoming events of their own. I’m really proud of what we have accomplished with this event and feel blessed to have a job where I can actually be a part of something that makes a difference.

Do you have any advice for others who would like to start similar events?

I think innovation and creative energy is what makes events memorable. Find your own niche and create something unique.

And a nitty-gritty work question – can you share specifics on how you keep on top of so many details when you are putting on an event like this?

This event is a massive undertaking with a lot of different working parts. It is a big team effort with marketing and design and an amazing, talented staff that makes it happen.

Over 25 staff are involved in one-way or another, each in charge of a different component. From my events manager Amy, who is the queen of on-site logistical details, to our entire Marketing staff that manages the PR, web, in-store and grassroots push, it is a constant challenge every year to top the last. But without a doubt, this is the best DFH yet.