For Spring 2008 Billabong is launching it’s new Design For Humanity initiative. Design For Humanity is Billabong Girls charitable division that seeks to generate funds from the sale of limited edition products to donate to environmental and humanitarian causes. It has been created to give Billabong the opportunity to utilise its resources to empower and promote awareness of various charities.

The charity chosen for this project is SurfAid International. It is a non-profit humanitarian aid organisation that runs community based health, education and disease prevention programs in Mentawai in Indonesia.

This season Billabong has enlisted the help of three renowned European artists – Andy Ward, JM Tixler and Blami. They have created a series of four limited edition t-shirts and a tote bag to go on sale, the proceeds of which will go to SurfAid initiatives in Mentawai. The fabulous designs here are the first installment of the Design For Humanity collection, and will go on sale in stores in Spring 2008.

PLUS, one talented aspiring artist will have the opportunity to join the ranks of these celebrated artists and have their work printed and sold as the 5th t-shirt in the series! The competition opens in January 2008, the entrants will be judged by the artists and the winner will be announced in March 2008. The winning t-shirt will become part of the Billabong winter sun injection range.

“The Design for Humanity concept has been a huge accomplishment for our brand and the money raised with the sale of a limited edition range should prove to be very beneficial for the work SurfAid is implementing to help the populations in Mentawaiis. We are very proud to be part of this project,” says Christelle Kipping, Billabong girls marketing manager.

Freesurfer, actress and ambassador for the Billabong team, Sanoe Lake, says: “I am very proud to be a part of what Billabong is doing through Design For Humanity. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to give my voice and support to this beautiful cause. It is my hope that through our efforts, more people will jump on board and get involved. My dream is that this will become more than a project, it will become a movement”.

Keep your eyes peeled for the dedicated Design for Humanity website, set to launch in January 2008. In the meantime, go to the Billabong website for further info.