Fashion with a mission and impact: what’s behind the collaboration between Summum and Orange Babies?

Credits: Summum Summum lovingly created an additional capsule collection for Orange Babies, especially for the Stand Up for Girls project. For every item sold from this collection, Summum donates to the project, which supports vulnerable girls in southern Africa with education, safety and opportunities for the future. ‘This feels like a perfect match’ That’s what Inge Veldt, initiator of the special collaboration between Summum and Orange Babies, thought, and she was right. Why? This becomes clear in the conversation between Summum founder Jorien Wijker, Orange Babies director Fiona Hering, involved initiator Inge Veldt and Beatha Iileka , former participant of the Stand Up for Girls programme. In the creative space wHERE in Bergen, they came together to discuss the collection development, and shared their personal motivations. A conversation about creativity, social involvement and the power of education. Summum for Orange Babies Credits: Summum Summum for Orange Babies Credits: Summum ‘What we take for granted, these girls don’t have’ Wijker: “Hering, how did you get involved with Orange Babies?” “What makes the Stand Up for Girls project so important to you?” Hering: “I was friends with the founders and at an event I heard a heartbreaking story from a young woman who unnecessarily lost her child. I decided I wanted to help too. I now work there with pride and see how effectively the money is spent. We do an incredible amount with few resources. Stand Up for Girls is essential: girls in Zambia and Namibia deserve basic amenities, protection and education.” Wijker: “That’s right. Your foundations must be in order: food, safety and education are necessary to make something of your life. What we take for granted is rare for these girls. “It’s great what you do.” ‘Education is key to a better life’ Wijker: “Can you tell us more about the work you do with Stand Up for Girls?” Hering: “Orange Babies tries to reduce HIV infections in women and babies. With Stand Up for Girls, we focus on girls in Namibia, Zambia and South Africa. Education is crucial here: girls with an education are 50 percent less likely to contract HIV. But gender inequality, sexual violence, a lack of healthcare and education make it difficult. Many girls have low self-esteem and stay at home. We visit them, pay school fees and uniforms, help with psychosocial support and provide daily food.” Hering: “Iileka, you yourself have been part of this programme. “Can you share something about that?” Iileka: “I am 25 and grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Windhoek, Namibia, with my mother. When the circumstances got worse, my mother sought help from Orange Babies. From the age of eight, they sponsored my school fees and uniform. Thanks to their support, I got my secondary school and later a bachelor's degree in Accounting. I wanted to overcome my circumstances and inspire others. At 17, I founded the United Youth Charity Association, with which we have already helped more than 100 young people. Later I worked for the First Lady of Namibia and became a board member, something I never dared to dream of. I continue to work for a better future through my foundation and as an ambassador for various companies.” Hering: “You have been through difficult times. “What gave you the strength to continue, to be strong and to look ahead?” Iileka: “I have a strong spiritual life. I decided that I wanted to help others never experience a feeling of hopelessness. Now I have a community of people who believe in me, partly thanks to safe places like those of Orange Babies. “That motivates me to let others know: you are not alone, it will be alright.” Summum for Orange Babies Credits: Summum Summum for Orange Babies Credits: Summum Connect, Inspire, Create Hering: “Wijker, what drew you to support our project?” Wijker: “I was approached by Veldt, my former personal assistant, who set up creative space wHERE. “I was immediately enthusiastic.” Veldt: “During a trip around the world, we visited Orange Babies projects in Namibia and Zambia. In Zambia we even stayed at the project location. There I saw how badly needed and effective the work is. Back in the Netherlands, that feeling lingered.” “With the establishment of wHERE, we wanted to support charities by connecting commercial companies with social initiatives. Our slogan is: Connect, Inspire, Create. “So I thought: what if I connect Orange Babies to Summum?” “Because I know Summum and founders Jos and Wijker well, I knew: this will be a perfect match.” Wijker: “Your enthusiasm was contagious. It touched me. Although it was a lot of extra work to make a capsule in addition to our regular planning, it felt right immediately. We had to do this.” “This way we can really make a difference.” Summum for Orange Babies Credits: Summum Want to know more about the work of Orange Babies? Visit the Orange Babies website - What we do Or take action direct

Jun 5, 2025 - 13:50

Fashion with a mission and impact: what’s behind the collaboration between Summum and Orange Babies?

Summum lovingly created an additional capsule collection for Orange Babies, especially for the Stand Up for Girls project.

For every item sold from this collection, Summum donates to the project, which supports vulnerable girls in southern Africa with education, safety and opportunities for the future.

‘This feels like a perfect match’

That’s what Inge Veldt, initiator of the special collaboration between Summum and Orange Babies, thought, and she was right. Why? This becomes clear in the conversation between Summum founder Jorien Wijker, Orange Babies director Fiona Hering, involved initiator Inge Veldt and Beatha Iileka , former participant of the Stand Up for Girls programme.

In the creative space wHERE in Bergen, they came together to discuss the collection development, and shared their personal motivations. A conversation about creativity, social involvement and the power of education.

Summum for Orange Babies *Credits: Summum*

‘What we take for granted, these girls don’t have’

Wijker: “Hering, how did you get involved with Orange Babies?” “What makes the Stand Up for Girls project so important to you?”

Hering: “I was friends with the founders and at an event I heard a heartbreaking story from a young woman who unnecessarily lost her child. I decided I wanted to help too. I now work there with pride and see how effectively the money is spent. We do an incredible amount with few resources. Stand Up for Girls is essential: girls in Zambia and Namibia deserve basic amenities, protection and education.”

Wijker: “That’s right. Your foundations must be in order: food, safety and education are necessary to make something of your life. What we take for granted is rare for these girls. “It’s great what you do.”

‘Education is key to a better life’

Wijker: “Can you tell us more about the work you do with Stand Up for Girls?”

Hering: “Orange Babies tries to reduce HIV infections in women and babies. With Stand Up for Girls, we focus on girls in Namibia, Zambia and South Africa. Education is crucial here: girls with an education are 50 percent less likely to contract HIV. But gender inequality, sexual violence, a lack of healthcare and education make it difficult. Many girls have low self-esteem and stay at home. We visit them, pay school fees and uniforms, help with psychosocial support and provide daily food.”

Hering: “Iileka, you yourself have been part of this programme. “Can you share something about that?”

Iileka: “I am 25 and grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Windhoek, Namibia, with my mother. When the circumstances got worse, my mother sought help from Orange Babies. From the age of eight, they sponsored my school fees and uniform. Thanks to their support, I got my secondary school and later a bachelor's degree in Accounting. I wanted to overcome my circumstances and inspire others. At 17, I founded the United Youth Charity Association, with which we have already helped more than 100 young people. Later I worked for the First Lady of Namibia and became a board member, something I never dared to dream of. I continue to work for a better future through my foundation and as an ambassador for various companies.”

Hering: “You have been through difficult times. “What gave you the strength to continue, to be strong and to look ahead?”

Iileka: “I have a strong spiritual life. I decided that I wanted to help others never experience a feeling of hopelessness. Now I have a community of people who believe in me, partly thanks to safe places like those of Orange Babies. “That motivates me to let others know: you are not alone, it will be alright.”

Connect, Inspire, Create

Hering: “Wijker, what drew you to support our project?”

Wijker: “I was approached by Veldt, my former personal assistant, who set up creative space wHERE. “I was immediately enthusiastic.”

Veldt: “During a trip around the world, we visited Orange Babies projects in Namibia and Zambia. In Zambia we even stayed at the project location. There I saw how badly needed and effective the work is. Back in the Netherlands, that feeling lingered.”

“With the establishment of wHERE, we wanted to support charities by connecting commercial companies with social initiatives. Our slogan is: Connect, Inspire, Create. “So I thought: what if I connect Orange Babies to Summum?”

“Because I know Summum and founders Jos and Wijker well, I knew: this will be a perfect match.”

Wijker: “Your enthusiasm was contagious. It touched me. Although it was a lot of extra work to make a capsule in addition to our regular planning, it felt right immediately. We had to do this.”

“This way we can really make a difference.”

Want to know more about the work of Orange Babies?

Visit the Orange Babies website - What we do
Or take action directly: Donate now and support Stand Up for Girls

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.