Carla Daddesi and Abby Johnson have a few things in common.
Both are moms and pro-life activists. Daddesi prayed outside of Planned Parenthood clinics as a teen, and Johnson once directed a Planned Parenthood clinic before an epiphany moment that led to her new career as an author and leader in the pro-life movement.
And now the two women are joining forces to promote what they believe to be the first line of “pro-life fashion” that celebrates a culture of life, provides women with beautiful and modest clothing, and raises money for pro-life organizations.
Daddesi and her three teenager daughters — Vittoria, 18; Isabella, 16; and Giulia, 13; launched COL 1972 (Culture of Life and the year before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision made legal abortion the law of the land) in January.
But it wasn’t high fashion that inspired the new company or Johnson joining the effort as the brand’s global ambassador. It was the desire to find a practical way to advance their Christian faith and pro-life values.
Daddesi said she was shocked to discover how many fashion brands support Planned Parenthood, as detailed in a Forbes magazine article during Fashion Week in New York City. The list of 40 companies names many popular brands, including Kate Spade and Tory Burch.
Pink buttons that read “Fashion stands with Planned Parenthood” were passed out along the runways.
Daddesi and her daughter had already established a boycott mentality when it came to not supporting any business that supports the abortion industry. But this time it led to an even bigger idea — a brand that gave women beautiful clothes and a clean conscious.
“The joke was we had to start a fashion line if we wanted to get clothes,” Daddesi told Breitbart News.
Carla Daddesi, second from right, and her three daughters, from left, Giulia, 13; Isabella, 16; and Vittoria, 18; wear outfits from their COL 1972 fashion collection. (Photo courtesy of Carla Daddesi)
With the help of a fashion consultant, COL 1972 was launched and online sales have been steadily growing.
In conjunction with the brand, Daddesi and her daughter’s started the COL 1972 Foundation, formed to give back ten percent of all profits raised from sales.
The first COL 1972 line launched is designed to appeal to what Daddesi said are the nine million pro-life Generation Z and millennial demographic.
They are now expanding the brand, with the Abby J collection set to debut on June 14 and the Tweens collection in the planning stages.
Social media brought Johnson and the Daddesi family together after one of the daughters found a post on Johnson’s Instagram account saying that she wished there were a one-stop place to shop for clothes that supported the pro-life cause.
“I don’t have a lot of time, and I worry about what I’m going to wear or if I need to accessorize,” Johnson told Breitbart News. “Some people have that gift, and I’m not one of those people.”
And she also knew of the fashion world’s support for the abortion industry.
Johnson said she wished she could get help with her fashion challenges and support the pro-life movement at the same time.
“I think more and more people are honestly looking for that,” Johnson said.
COL 1972 has had one “pop-up store” during the last March for Life in the nation’s capital. And now it will have another showcasing the new partnership between Johnson and the pro-life brand at Johnson’s next Pro-life Women’s Conference on June 21–23 in New Orleans.
“This is really a partnership to move the pro-life movement forward in a really healthy fun way,” Daddesi said.
Meanwhile, both moms will be juggling their advocacy with their first priorities. Daddesi has three daughters in high school and Johnson is about to give birth to her eighth child.
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