Karlie Kloss’ Kode with Karlie Gets High-Profile Support From Marc Fisher
Photo via The Cut
Supermodel Karlie Kloss made headlines this spring when she announced the Kode with Karlie scholarship. Together with The Flatiron School, Karlie awarded 20 girls in high school the opportunity to attend an intensive two-week pre-college class this summer to learn the basics of coding, free of tuition (classes at the Flatiron School typically run around $1,500 a pop). At the time, Kloss noted that, after taking a course at the Flatiron School, she learned how important it is for girls to have access to tech education so that young women “have a voice and a stake in what the world looks like.”
The first Kode with Karlie scholarships have since been awarded, but Kloss’ commitment to coding education is getting another round of high profile exposure courtesy of footwear designer Marc Fisher‘s new yearlong social media campaign.
As revealed exclusively to The Cut, Fisher “will donate $20 from the purchase of three Karlie-selected styles to the program and its scholarships, and $1 per each Instagram and Twitter photo tagged with #MAKEYOURMARC. It’ll also award grants to women leading their own social initiatives, as chosen by a company selection committee.”
The first grant recipients include Girls Write Now and The Lunchbox Fund.
Kloss isn’t the only one using the reach of her platform to expose girls to the benefits of learning to code. Google’s Made with Code program has similar goals, with their efforts focused on neutralizing the tech industry’s gender imbalance by educating girls about the versatility and creativity of coding. Made with Code notes the discouraging statistic that the percentage of girls interested in studying science, tech, engineering and math drops from 74% to 0.3% as they age from middle school to high school. Part of their plan of action involves fashion initiatives, including using code to design an LED dress, a project that was announced exclusively at this June’s FTF: Conference.
Click here to watch a video featuring Google’s Director of Agency Development and Made with Code Executive Stephanie Redish Hofmann explain at FTF: Conference 2015 how code can inspire the designers, artists and tech leaders of tomorrow.
