When Treane Peake was growing up, an unknown benefactor would slide an envelope of money under the door of her family home every year.
Her family desperately needed the money, and the giver never expected anything in return. She never found out who it was, but this kindness impacted her deeply.
Peake is now the creative director and founder of the luxury fashion line Obakki and its philanthropic counterpart, the Obakki Foundation. Using proceeds from her fashion line, Peake has built over 400 water wells and 12 schools in South Sudan and Cameroon; positively impacting the lives of over half a million people.
Her recent campaign, Scarves for Water, ensures that for every 500 scarves sold, a water well is built in Africa. She Does The City spoke to Peake about her life, her humanitarian work, and how a simple gesture can change everything.
Can you describe a typical day in your life?
My morning begins cuddling with my kids and my dog and my husband, and we lay in bed til the last minute then we get up, make breakfast, get them to school, and when I arrive at work, I hit the ground running. I’ve got a good balance between my family and personal life and work. I don’t even look at my phone until I get to work, and when I get home from work, I shut off my phone.
Obakki Collection F/W 2014
At work, we do a lot of crossover campaigns. For our Scarves for Water program I’ll pull out the fashion colors of this season, sometimes we’ll do a print, or we’ll do a colour, but that will all be fashion-driven – with 100% of the proceeds of those scarves going directly to providing a village with clean water. So I live in both worlds on any given day.
There’s always some interesting things going on. When war broke out in South Sudan we were dealing with an emergency situation, trying to rehabilitate water along the sides of the Nile for these people that were fleeing from war, trying to get them clean water, and then I’d be on the phone with the UN or dealing with our field team, or figuring out how to respond to the crisis. Then I’d come in and start designing clothes! From one absolute extreme to another. Sometimes that is quite a difficult juxtaposition to juggle in your head. The thing that really keeps me motivated is that fashion does fuel – and fund – the foundation, so therefore it is that driving motivational force behind it all; it keeps me energized to do it.
Obakki Foundation: Scarves for Water
What was behind the idea to use scarves for the new campaign?
We’ve got the Obakki fashion brand, and it’s a luxury brand, so we got a lot of emails from people saying; ‘I love your brand, I love that it helps people in other parts of the world, I just can’t afford the pieces.’ But they wanted to be a part of what we were doing. We thought a scarf is something that could hold a lot of bright colors, and it’s an affordable accessible price point for a lot of people. We’ve been able to really open up this large community of people that have come on board now – it’s creating a community here that’s helping a community there.
What attribute do you try to cultivate within yourself?
Giving without expectations. I was taught that as a really young child, when those envelopes of money would slip under my door and someone was just always giving to my family without expecting anything back in return. That’s something I continually think about. It is woven into everything we do. When I’m in a village and you provide someone water, or you put up a school, everyone comes to you and is like ‘how will we ever repay you?’ And they don’t have to. There’s no reason. There’s nothing you need to repay me for, it’s our gift to you. That is a good principle to live your life by. If you’re in a position to give, then you should.
Do you see evidence of this spirit of giving in the younger generation?
Absolutely. We have our Kids for Clean Water program, that was something that was started by 64 kids in a tiny school here in West Vancouver. It was really their idea. I went into their classroom and sat down and gave a talk about the water crisis in the world and what’s happening, how people are living in other regions, and that’s all that it was about. When I left, half an hour later, the school called and said; ‘These kids want to do something. They want to help.’ So I launched the program because of them.
There’s been a few different schools and classrooms that have done this – little elementary school kids that say they want to make change in the world. I think now parents are doing a really good job at teaching their kids the importance of being active global citizens and that they can change the world with their own actions.
When did you know you were doing the right thing?
I’ve always been on the philanthropic side of things and I feel that time and time again. I feel that when I’m out in the field in the middle of a village, with an elder, sitting under a tree and listening to their stories, or watching women dancing around their water well – these sound like cliché moments, I know. But they are these real life moments where I’m actually out there in these communities, and every time I’m there I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. We’re using this platform for fashion that we’ve created in order to use for good. I love how it connects our world, and it’s a great feeling to have. I wouldn’t ever be doing anything else than what I’m doing.
Obakki’s Scarves for Water scarves are selling for only $29, and all proceeds go towards building water wells. It’s not too late to order a scarf (or 500) this holiday season. Visit Obakki Foundation for more information.
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