Hope in a Clip

Nothing says springtime in Fairfield County like being able to break out your sandals, throw on a pair of your favorite sunglasses, and toss up your hair in a… Hope Clip? That’s right, Hope Clip. These beautiful, functional hair clips each hand-beaded by women in South Africa, support not one, but two great causes and are quickly becoming one of the hottest new trends in Fairfield County.

 Hope Clips was founded in December 2009 by CT’s own, Lauren Smith, a young woman entrepreneur on a mission to support women and children worldwide through fashion, or more specifically, through hair clips. “HOPE is an acronym,” Smith explains, “for Helping Other People Every day.” A portion of all Hope Clips proceeds goes to help rescue and heal victims of child sex trafficking through nonprofit 501(c)(3), Hopes & Dreams Intl. The foundation aims to build a healing center in California for children who have been rescued.

 Smith discovered her first hair clip at a craft fair two years ago. Through a great deal of online research and networking with contacts in Hawaii, Australia, and the UK, she finally found the company that employs the women in South Africa. “I wrote to them, told them what I wanted to do, and received my first sample order that fall which lead to an official distributorship,” Smith says. The rest is history.

Check out Hope Clips at Facebook.com/hopeclips or at the Fairfield County Women’s Expo on May 1-2 at the Stamford Plaza Hotel. Visit HopeClips.com for more information.