Kaila Methven in West Hollywood, California, in 2018. (Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
Kaila Methven, heiress to a fried chicken fortune and a lingerie designer to the stars, has reportedly pledged to help employ LGBT+ people and raise $1million during the coronavirus pandemic.
Methven’s company, PLUR, will hire LGBT+ people, as well as people in alcohol recovery and survivors of domestic abuse, to work as independent contractors.
PLUR – Peace Love Unity Respect, a slogan that comes from the rave community – creates Methven’s “Madame Maven” lingerie, as well as the slyly named festival-clothing line ‘Special K’.
“The Independent Contractor Program primarily assists the unemployed and disenfranchised members of the LGBTIQ+ community, the domestic violence survivor community of both men and women, and the sober living community community,” said Methven.
The newly conceived programme for independent contractors will also seek to raise $1million in emergency coronavirus funds for LGBT+ charities associated with the electronic dance community, Methven has pledged.
Kaila Methven’s grandfather founded Rainbow Chicken Unlimited, the company that acquired KFC in the 1980s.
The fund and programme were first reported in music-industry media in February.
“Giving people opportunities to work for themselves in the fashion industry and learning the ‘ins and outs’ while they learn about clothing, lingerie, and art has developed and really improved every aspect of the PLUR Association,” Methven told the Star Observer yesterday.
Asked about what inspired her to help the LGBT+ community during the pandemic, she said: “Art inspires me… love inspires me… so does sensuality and passion.”
“I want my contribution to the world to be the soldier spreading the message and true meaning of PLUR,” Methven added.
“I aim to use my voice as a philanthropist, it’s my dream to make a difference in the world. This is the beginning of days, we all unite globally as human beings.”
She added that the PLUR Association seeks to foster recognition of the need for respect, diversity, inclusion, and equality for people of all gender identities and sexualities in the workplace.