The AntHill is where the news happens.
More about the Vaute Couture Rewards!
The STORE IS BORN Collection: Exclusively on Lucky Ant for the Lucky 13 Days
to raise money for our first flagship store & first Spring/Summer Designs <3
$5 Wish Or Raffle
-- One wish in the WISH IT FORWARD PROJECT (buy 2 for international) (Video)
-- One raffle ticket to win any Vaute Couture winter coat good for 1 year (if you want to grab one of the first fall winter coats!), that’s $398-$565 retail value
$25
-- The “Free Two Birds with One Key” Necklace
We are doing a limited edition 50 necklaces per color duo (strawberries & cream- pink & ivory, sunshine & clouds-yellow & gray, and beach days-blues). This sweet spring 100% vegan necklace is made of pastel mini rope and shows one bird carrying the key to free the other. While sometimes it seems so many may be focused on what they can exploit (or kill with one stone), we’d love to focus on how compassion for one, can be compassion for all. Kindness spreads, and our circle of empathy should extend to everyone regardless of species... as we focus on one element of injustice, it will in doing so extend to all those facing injustice. Compassion for all. Let’s free two birds with one key.
-- the “Sheep Dreams” exclusive art print
Printed on organic or salvaged cotton canvas, this print is from a photograph I took after waking up from a nap with the amazing Sparky the Sheep at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. This haven is a dream for all rescued farm animals, and only a bus ride away from NYC (Please go visit!) You can purchase this print, we’ll only be doing 100 total and they are numbered and signed by me, Vaute Couture founder, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart.
$50
-- the “Sheep Dreams” hand detailed tee
This tee is handcut just for you- you can specify off the shoulder oversized- crop length (18” long from back of neck to bottom of tee, pictured) or normal length(25” long), and we’ll cut it just for you! It also includes a handpainted heart with VC on it, and you can choose if you’d like the heart to be petal pink, white, or sky blue. We can also write your name inside, one word or first name up to 10 letters. So special... hand detailed in our Flagship Store for you.
The print on this 100% organic cotton black handcut tee is from a photograph I took after waking up from a nap with the amazing Sparky the Sheep at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. This haven is a dream for all rescued farm animals, and only a bus ride away from NYC (Please go visit!)
--OUR FIRST CLASS: Handpainted Fashion with VC
This is our very first class, at our very first store! Come visit us in Williamsburg Brooklyn for an evening with a local vegan painter & artist, who will teach you a few different ways to paint on your own clothing, or on a piece from us! You can bring something you’d like to paint (a plain top, dress, tee or tote) or purchase one from us at a special introductory price of $12 for an off the shoulder organic cotton or bamboo top, $15 for an organic tote bag, or $60 for one of our organic cotton dresses. We’ll have a schedule of weekday evening or weekend afternoon options, the class will be 1 session for 3 hours, and includes all art supplies needed. Class is at most 10 people per session, for lots of one on one attention. You’ll get to take home your handpainted fashion! Class schedule begins in late May. Btw, if we don’t have a class schedule that works for you, we will refund you- no problem.
$100
--Five Art Prints Package: the FRIENDS SERIES Art Print Collection (4 prints) plus the Sheep Dreams Exclusive Print
Animals are our friends, not food, fashion, test subjects, or entertainment. Our Friends Series tops are nearly always soldout, here we are launching a print version on organic or salvaged cotton canvas, printed in silver or gold. Made in the US. Perfect for framing (please note, the frame and mats pictured are not included, just the prints.) You receive 5 prints total: A Gold Rabbit, a Gold Chick, a Silver Sheep, and a Silver Elephant, plus a Sheep Dreams print. All are numbered and signed by Vaute Couture founder, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, and the collection comes wrapped with a bow. Limit 15 sets, after that sets will not include a free 5th print.
$500
- the Custom Handpainted Vaute Couture Dress (Only 5 available)
We had two vegan artists painting dresses live at our Launch Party... it was so much fun but even more, we were blown away by the one of a kind dresses created from it! You can now order your own custom handpainted dress handpainted by a local vegan artist... you can specify what kind of design, colors, etc. on your handpainted organic cotton dress. Sizes available are XS-XL, and we have a few artists depending on schedule and style to choose from, concepts range from animals, to watercolors, to constellations, and abstract designs (Please note: the specific artist is not guaranteed.)
Coats Named After You: $1000 (Only 3 available)
Purchase two of the $500 option, and you’ll get 1 custom painted dress or coat, AND we will be naming one of our new coats this fall after you! Every season, I name my newest styles after those that inspire me: my favorite teachers, neighborhoods, & vegan celebrities... now I’d love to name them after some of our biggest supporters. I’ll create a name for a coat derived from yours, and we’ll include a short bio on who you are & why you support Vaute. Both will be printed in our Look Book for the upcoming fall/winter 2012 collection.
Lucky Ant: 3 months old
Lucky Ant is 3 months old today and it's been a hell of a ride. After a great January, a bumpy February and a better than expected March, we wanted to celebrate by sharing some info about how things have been going. Thanks for joining us for the ride. Much more to come!
Crowdsourcing Stepping in Where Government Falls Short
originall posted on The Daily Crowdsource
The crowdfunding world was abuzz in February. After an amazing start to their month, Kickstarter announced that they are on track to distribute more funds in 2012 than the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This is undeniably great news for the industry at large, but it got me thinking: What does this mean for the role of government in a future where crowdfunding has really taken off?
Welcome to the L.E.S.
Have you noticed something different about the neighborhood at the top of the page? That's right, Lucky Ant is growing by shrinking! We are now in the Lower East Side.
Photo Credit: http://dianawu88.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/178/
Happy to announce, Lucky Ant founder Jonathan Moyal will be a crowd leader on The Daily Crowdsource.
Lucky Ant is back. What you need to know.
Did you miss us? Of course you did. After a 6-week hiatus, Lucky Ant is back and we are hosting our next project. Here are a few things you need to know.
Why were we gone?
Like all startups, at Lucky Ant we did our best to have a smooth launch. We’d been planning for so long, and we thought we had all our bases covered. Unfortunately like every startup (and small business) there were a few hiccups that we just could not plan for. Unexpected bureaucracy kept us from moving forward and we’ve been stuck in paperwork ever since. We promised our good friends at Street Fight Magazine that we would write a guest post about our troubles, so check them out to find out more soon.
Who’s up now?
The good folks at Victory Garden have been oh so good to us. Despite all the delays, Sophia and her team have stuck by us and they will be our next project. Victory Garden is raising $2,800 to pay for a grab n’ go fridge. Check out her video on the project page.
What’s next?
It's Crowdfunding Month!
Our good friends at The Daily Crowdsource are spearheading March as crowdfunding month. Hey, everyone else seems to get a month it only seems natural that crowdfunding should to. Go check out their lineup: here to see what they have in store. Lucky Ant will be participating with a guest post about Crowdfunding and the Government (coming soon).
Why hasn't Lucky Ant hosted a new project?
As you know, Lucky Ant brings you one project every week. We succesfully funded Bari Studio in our first week, and we unfortunately could not muster enough support for the Food and Finance High School. Those of you who have been to the website regularly in the past few weeks have noticed that we haven't had any new projects up since the Food and Finance High School. So, what gives? (read more below)
Can you guess the next project on Lucky Ant?
Hint 1: There are goats involved (yes in New York City).
Photo Credit: Flickr User ilovebutter
Huffington Post: Why Wall Street's Loss Is New York's Gain
The Huffington Post has a great op-ed by Dinesh Moorjani (founder of Hatch Labs). It is definitely worth a read.
Guest Post: Why I am involved with Food and Finance High by Jean-Pierre Adechi
I am so happy to have discovered this New York city public school. We are so used to hearing about how the educational system is failing and we forget to give proper merit to the exemplary schools. Food and Finance High School is a public school that offers an exceptional program in the culinary, hospitality fields and in the sciences in partnership with Cornell University; all in addition to the regular curriculum.
congratulations to Bari!
At 2:15pm Bari received a $100 pledge, which put them over their fundraising goal!
Congrats to Alexandra and the Bari team! We are so happy to have participated. As was promised in our agreement: The Lucky Ant Team will come in to take one Bari class. Yikes!
Need more incentive?
I don't see how you could need more incentive to chip in for Bari Studio, but just in case...
Here is my pledge: If Bari Studio is funded by Sunday Morning, I (Jonathan Moyal, Founder of Lucky Ant) will participate in the pantless subway ride. The ball is in your court New Yorkers.
Lucky Ant is (on) Good!
We know we've been bombarding you with Lucky Ant being in the press these past two days, but cut us some slack we're new. We promise just a few more days of press stuff and we'll get back to blogging about real things.
About an hour ago we got picked up by GOOD.is you know as in Good Magazine. Zak Stone did an awesome writeup, which you can read here.
Bari Socks and Ball
Many of you have reached out asking what the Bari socks and Bari Ball actually look like.
Here they are! Aren't they awesome?
Don't forget to sign up!
We're so happy to have so much traffic on only our second day.
If you like Lucky Ant don't forget to sign up! We'll be featuring a new project every week so even if this week's project isn't for you, the next one might be!
If you want to sign up, but you're not in New York City, try our newsletter below - you'll be the first to know when we start expanding nationwide (worldwide?).
Lucky Ant was featured on PSFK
Looks like Lucky Ant is spreading. PSFK picked up our launch this morning. We've seen a lot of traffic throughout the day thanks to this blog post, so thanks guys!
PS: we love the image :)
Lucky Ant mentioned in the New York Daily News
Just a quick blurb in the New York Daily News on Sunday to announce our upcoming project for the Food and Finance High School
We are helping them raise money to open a pop-up restaurant run by their students. Sign up and check back next week to chip in.
The Lucky Ant Facebook event
Don't forget to join and share the Lucky Ant Launch Event on Facebook!
Lucky Ant is on StreetFight Magazine
StreetFight is an awesome blog that covers the hyperlocal industry. We were at their conference back in October in NYC and met up with David. Today Lucky Ant is on StreetFight.
This kicks off the official Lucky Ant launch!
Bari Studio on Shatterbox
Our current project of the week is being featured on Shatterbox this week! Check out more about Alexandra and Bari Studio above.
