A fabulous pair of shoes may be something you'd like to get this year for Christmas, but on Tuesday,Fergie wants you to think about giving shoes to someone who really needs it.
As part of the second annual Giving Tuesday — a national day of charity that takes place after Black Friday and Cyber Monday — Fergie is teaming with Dress for Success to create "Giving Shoes-Day." She and the organization, which provides disadvantaged women with appropriate clothing for job interviews and the workplace, are asking people to donate their unwanted professional shoes to one of over 50 locations across the U.S. Visit dressforsuccess.org/affiliates to find the closest location near you. The top 10 shoe donors across the country will receive a very special gift: a pair of limited-edition shoes designed by Fergie for her company, Fergie Footwear.
"I've always wanted to do this," Fergie tells ABC News Radio. "I've had this dream of creating this limited-edition shoe, and we made it happen finally this year, and 40 percent of the profits are going for Dress for Success, with a minimum of us donating $40,000." The limited-edition shoe is called the Palace Heel; it's fire-engine red and super-sexy.
Fergie says she's happy to team with Dress for Success because she really believes in its mission. "It's about empowering women and dressing them for job interviews," she tells ABC News Radio. "And disadvantaged women, a lot of times they don't have the clothes to go on these job interviews to look appropriate or to attend work in. So this really helps them out."
"I'm all about empowering women, helping them to become financially independent and it's really just a great cause for the holidays. I really took to it and it's perfect," she adds. And the singer adds that she herself gives away many of her own shoes, of which, she says, she has "a lot." "My family and friends have gotten a lot of shoes that they would have never bought for themselves, so that makes me happy, and [I] also donated to our church," she says.
Of course, being a new mom to baby Axl Jack has forced Fergie to change her footwear choices as of late. "Now I'm getting more into the flats section because I have a kid," she laughs. "So pregnancy and becoming a mom have really lowered my heels!"
In addition to her shoe line, Fergie has a mini-empire that includes wine, makeup, nail polish, fragrance and other products. And she says she's just grateful that while her group The Black Eyed Peas are on hiatus, she can run that empire from home, and still be there for Axl 24/7. "I've been so blessed to be able to work from home," she gushes. "I mean, I can't tell you how many times I'm sitting there in a meeting or a conference call or doing approvals online, and I don't have to get dressed…I can feed my son. It's wonderful!" (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
Fergie also says that she is planning a follow-up to her one and only solo album, The Dutchess, and while there's no firm release date, she says we're likely to see it before the release of a new Black Eyed Peas album.
