When Zang Toi arrived at the Parsons School of Design at 20, he couldn’t sew. (He honed his drawing skills as a youth, and contemplated a career in interior design.) Since then, he has dressed the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Fergie, Eva Longoria, Melinda Gates, Ivana Trump, and Patti LaBelle. Us Weekly recently named him one of the year’s “most stylish New Yorkers.” Now he greets visitors in a shop — bordered by tall mirrors and racks of his designs in white, blue, and black — wearing a mini-kilt with a "T" affixed. An item in his boutique can cost more than $2,000; in his showroom, you could spend more than 10 times that.

He gives a combination of money and time, using his design skills and connections—and, sometimes, his presence at events.

He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, now the Livestrong Foundation, through fashion shows and sample sales, as well as pledge drives. In 2007, LaBelle performed at a fashion show featuring his designs and benefiting the foundation.

He has sold photographs of his collection at a Fashion Week event for the Human Rights Foundation, designed teddy bears for the Feed Foundation and held a trunk show that raised money for UNICEF.

And when the JED Foundation reached out to Toi about an upcoming campaign earlier this year, Toi agreed to design a backpack for a campaign called #WeGotYourBack, which supports the group’s mission of boosting the mental health of teens and young adults.

Read the full article about designer Zang Toi's giving platform at barrons.com.