Michael Kors and Kate Hudson Join Forces With the World Food Program
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by BFA for Michael Kors
Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Michael Kors
Fronting a World Food Program panel alongside Michael Kors at UCLA on Wednesday, November 7, Kate Hudson found herself quoting her mother, Goldie Hawn. “My mom says these things, these profound things about how we connect with each other. One of them was, ‘It’s not what you’re going to do [in life], but who you’re going to be,’” said Hudson.
Hawn’s words and Hudson’s deep-seeded sense of responsibility, also passed down from her mother, have led the 39-year-old actor and entrepreneur to take on her latest role as a World Food Program Goodwill Ambassador, just weeks after giving birth to her daughter Rani. Kors has supported the Rome-based international humanitarian agency for the past five years (in addition to local New York nonprofit God’s Love We Deliver) and has teamed up twice with Hudson for his yearly fundraising drive, Watch Hunger Stop, which has already delivered over 17.8 million meals to children in need. The agency currently provides food assistance to more than 90 million people in more than 80 countries and estimates that 821 million people worldwide lack food security.
Naturally, Kors, a WFP Global Ambassador since 2015, relies on fashion to help raise awareness about world hunger. “I see this as something that can be solved. You know I love a makeover,” the New York-based designer quipped. This year he tapped São Paulo artist Eli Sudbrack to design limited-edition T-shirts benefiting the fund. Hudson, wearing a navy Michael Kors dress, said she connects to the organization on so many different levels, as a mom and an advocate for women. “A wild percentage of girls are now going to school because there’s food there and meals to bring home to their families,” she explains. Kors clarifies the WFP’s unique food delivery system, “The only impetus for kids, particularly girls, to go to school in many countries is the meal they get there and the food they bring home.”
Hudson has toured Cambodian farms and schools together with the WFP and hopes to travel with the organization to Africa next. “We need to go on a mission together,” Kors told Hudson. Then he added a caveat. “I am not an experimental eater,” confessed Kors after remarking that Hudson is one of the most adventurous foodies he knows. “No one is game for more exotic food,” he explained, pointing at Hudson. Kors said he believes spreading the word about food insecure regions is essential to solving world hunger. “We are so overwhelmed with so much information that we need to be loud to be heard,” he said. “Get loud,” agreed Hudson.
That evening, Kors hosted an event in Hudson’s honor at a private residence in Beverly Hills, where celebrity friends and guests came together to support the cause. As revelers mingled under the swaying palms of the home’s garden, everyone wondered who the night’s surprise entertainment would be. “Kate, I want everyone here to know that from now on — I told your son Ryder — you will only be referred to as Ambassador Hudson,” said Kors before introducing seven-time Grammy Award winner Gladys Knight and declaring, “I am not a pip.” Knight wowed the crowd with her closing number, “Midnight Train To Georgia,” and the evening concluded with guests toasting to Hudson and Kors for their efforts.
Written by Elizabeth Varnell and Phoebe Doheny
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