The Student Fashion Association is teaming up with the St. Vincent De Paul Society, a national Catholic charitable organization, to organize the Men’s Clothing and Coat Drive held on Nov. 4. The clothes from the drive will go to St. Vincent De Paul's Discarded to Divine event, an annual auction where donated clothes are transformed into one-of-a-kind couture pieces. The proceeds from the auction go to help the poor and homeless.

The clothing drive will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Malcolm X Plaza. Anyone is welcome to join the event, which will feature snacks, like cupcakes, and live music from disc jockey Prime Time. This is the first time SFA is collaborating with St. Vincent De Paul for this charity event.

"The SFA organization has as its mission to work with and provide service to the community. Hence, the clothing drive as a full donation [toward St. Vincent De Paul]," said Dr. Connie Ulasewicz, the SFA advisor.

Collecting men's clothing is the top priority of the drive because there is a scarcity of menswear available for the needy. According to Sally Rosen, who works at St. Vincent De Paul's help desk, the organization helps upwards of 1,200 people a month—and 90 percent of them are men. Rosen explained that the majority of clothing donations that the charity receives is women's clothing, such as beaded or silk dresses, which is not practical everyday wear.

"Men do not shop as much as women and may not have a lot to give away," Rosen said. "In addition, they don't give up clothing easily because they wear all the clothes that they have."

Matthew Robinson, the vice president of SFA, agreed that there is a shortage of men who donate their old clothes to clothing drives and thrift stores. “Men's clothing is always the hardest to collect. You walk into Crossroads, and the men's side is a fraction of the [women's side],” Robinson said.

While the clothing drive is pushing for men's clothes, SFA and St. Vincent De Paul will accept other items as well. "We will be taking all donations, [but] we just get a lot of women's and children's items every year. Although we appreciate it, and will accept it, we want to emphasize the male clothing this year,” said Ashley Green, president of SFA.

The clothing that SFA and St. Vincent de Paul are looking for must be in good condition and wearable. Clothes with extreme damage, such as holes and stains, will not be accepted. This event is geared more toward coats and outer wear because of the climate here in San Francisco, Green said.

Many of San Francisco's fashion schools are involved in the Discarded to Divine auction, and this year the members of SFA wanted to make sure they'd be contributing, too. The student group is helping in the preparation of the event by doing the prep work, such as collecting donated clothes.

“We really are a community service program,” said Robinson, "We like to give to our community through fashion."

The auction event will not be held until next May, but SFA members are starting the preparation process early. According to Robinson, if the group does not receive a substantial amount of donations, meaning more than just a couple of garments, the first time, they will throw a second clothing drive.

Bulletins for the clothing drive have been sent out in newsletters to staff throughout the university, and SFA members plan to hand out fliers during the week that leads up to the clothing drive. Many members are already planning ahead, like Apparel Design and Merchandising major, Lauryn Varnum.

“I have a ton of girl stuff, but St. Vincent De Paul really does need mens clothing. I was planning on asking my guy friend to bring some of his old stuff in, and just to chuck [his old clothes] in a garbage bag,” Varnum said.

This is not the first time SFA has done a clothing drive. Last year, the organization had a drive to donate clothes to San Francisco's Crossroads, a store that buys and sells used clothing. But things were not as organized as this year, Green said. “We got a lot of crap last year, [but] we were not monitoring the bins and people were taking stuff,” she said. At this event, SFA members plan to monitor the clothing bins more closely.

Workers from Saint Vincent De Paul will be coming to campus at 1 p.m. to pick up the donations on the day of the clothing drive.

“We want to give back to our community and encourage them," Green said. "We always want them to know that we have them in mind."