I said “Unik, we’re going.” He went, “Really?” “We are going. I’ve got my team, I’ve got my camera man.” I called Unik. So we thought, “Listen, OK we’ve got our tickets. You just have to be street.” Nigel Barker photographing some of The Edeyo Foundation's school children She said to me, “Nigel, you know it’s a desperate situation down there, but there’s never been a time that they need you more than now. I remember I finally spoke to a nun, who was about 70 years old, and she had just come back, right after the riots. I spoke to various people who were in Haiti and I contacted other groups. I thought to myself, we had already spent the various amounts of money to go and we also knew this was an important time to go down there. At the same time for me, it was really irritating. He was obviously very upset, but understood. We said to Unik, “Look this is not the time. At that point, obviously Vogue pulled out. That if we were to go, we would have no protection and that it would be foolhardy. Embassy actually closed and the Canadian Embassy also closed, having been bombed.
They overthrew the government, there was widespread looting. Right before we went, the food riots broke out around the world, specifically in Haiti they were very, very bad. There was couple of different groups who were coming with us on this trip.
We originally set out to go down to Haiti with him and at the time Anne Vincent from Vogue was coming. As a photographer and filmmaker, go down to Haiti with you and film for people to see what’s happening.” I said to him after he’d been going for about a year, “Look, what I could do that would probably be most useful is use what I do. It was amazing to see what Unik was doing personally. I’m already involved in many different charities and organizations, most of which are very big charities, like the Humane Society of the United States or the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. His idea was to start the school with his mother.
#UNIK ERNEST FREE#
Ernest, EDEYO has been able to launch two schools in Haiti that continues to builds lives by providing free education.At the time, I was just like, “What are you going to do? How can you help? What possibly could you do?” It seems like such an extraordinary problem. With the funds raised from various events hosted by Mr. This sparked the launch of EDEYO, a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the children of Haiti so they will become the future of the country. While continuing his core business as one of the top twenty event producers in New York and connecting brands with celebrities through a variety of different ways (social media deals, celebrity appearances, celebrity endorsements and booking, branded events), Unik quickly recognized that his influence and social network could be directed towards his passion for his native country and people. Kate Hudson, Lewis Hamilton, Spike Lee, Usher, and Will.I.AM. His incredible energy and enthusiasm have made him a favorite among celebrities including Lionel Richie, Casey Affleck, Cuba Gooding Jr, Kanye West, Rihanna, Mickey Rourke, Usher, Jamie Foxx, Ciara, Rosario Dawson, Lenny Kravitz, January Jones, Michelle Rodriguez, Naomi Campbell, Novak Djokovic, John Legend. While branding these spaces his luxury hospitality empire and was an integral force behind transforming New York’s Meatpacking District into one of the city’s most exciting nightlife destinations.Īs an event architect, leading brands such as Nike, Diesel, La Perla, Valentino, Volkswagen, Virgin Mobile, Microsoft, Def Jam, Lufthansa Airlines, NBC Universal and Interscope Records often turn to Unik to create exclusive parties and promotions for them through his company Lokee Worldwide Productions, including special events for Sundance, Venice, Cannes Film Festivals, Grammy, Fashion Week. His luxury hospitality group managed all of those spaces. At the onset of the new century, Unik once again broke through barriers to become the owner of various hospitality and nightlife spaces – Merkato 55, Bijoux and PM Lounge, Gin Lane which became Scarpetta. He began his illustrious career as a promoter in Miami in the early 90’s at Mickey Rourke’s The Spot and quickly found his way to New York where he curated evenings for Serafina, Chaos, Cheetah and Ciprina Downtown. He has built a reputation as a leading businessman in the hospitality world. Unik Ernest is a globally known lifestyle maven, technology entrepreneur, cultural architect, experiential marketer, social justice advocate and thought leader who has produced live events from Cannes to the Oscars, the Superbowl to the World Cup, Davos to UN General Assembly on every continent except Asia and Antarctica.
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