Retailers and brands celebrate International Women’s Day

March 8 marks the annual International Women’s Day. A day that not only celebrates and champions the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world but also highlights what still needs to be done in the ongoing fight for women’s rights and equality for all women.

This year’s campaign, #ChooseToChallenge encourages women and their male counterparts to come together, call out gender bias and inequality to help create a more inclusive world.

As with many awareness days, brands, designers and retailers love to support a cause and for International Women’s Day, many have launched products that give back to women’s charities and organisations, alongside campaigns advocating for women.

Net-a-Porter collaborates with 12 female designers

Luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter is taking its International Women’s Day collection one step further this year by expanding it to include T-shirts, jewellery and homeware, and a pledge to donate 100 percent of the profits to Women for Women.

This year, Net-a-Porter is collaborating with 12 female designers, have created 13 exclusive pieces. There are nine T-shirts by Stella McCartney, Emilia Wickstead, Westman Atelier, Tove, Anya Hindmarch, Jennifer Fisher, Simone Rocha, Amina Muaddi and Ninety Percent, alongside jewellery from Roxanne Assoulin and Alighieri, and homeware from Anissa Kermiche.

Each piece in the collection reflects the designers’ interpretation of female empowerment, from Stella McCartney depicting a female superhero ‘Super Stella’ to Anya Hindmarch using artwork produced by Margaret Calvert, entitled ‘Woman at Work’, the British road sign features a female figure, while jewellery designer Jennifer Fisher offers an exclusive T-shirt which embraces the unity of women.

Image: courtesy of Net-a-Porter

Cos collaborates with Lavinya Stennett

Cos is celebrating inspirational women entrepreneurs who have influenced positive change and hope against all odds during a time of adversity for International Women’s Day. The retailer has launched a campaign to highlight influential women as they discuss positive change and what it means to be a woman today. Included in the campaign is Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise group founded in 2019 that works on effecting social change, aiming to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum.

Image: courtesy of Cos

Baukjen launches charity T-shirt in collaboration with The Prince’s Trust

Sustainably and socially conscious online womenswear brand Baukjen has partnered with the Prince’s Trust to launch its ‘Sonny’ organic T-shirt to raise money for the charities #ChangeAGirlsLife campaign. The T-shirt, priced 45 pounds, features the slogan ‘Sunshine’, a message designed to reflect positivity and hope during these uncertain times. 20 pounds of each sale will be donated to the charity, supporting young women who are struggling to find a job or losing hope for the future.

Baukjen founder and creative director, Baukjen De Swaan Arons, said in a statement: “As a brand designed by women for women, International Women’s Day is always close to our hearts. It gives us the opportunity to unite with our customers and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the globe.

“It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to partner with the Princes Trust on such an empowering campaign, creating positive change for women during their times of need.”

Image: courtesy of Baukjen

Akris launches the ‘Symbol of Purpose’ initiative

Swiss fashion house Akris is celebrating Women with Purchase with the launch of its ‘Symbol of Purpose’ initiative on International Women’s Day with the ‘Kinderstern’ charity bag charm. The Kinderstern (or Star for Children), first seen in creative director, Albert Kriemler’s spring/summer 2021 collection, is inspired by an artwork of German artist Imi Knoebel, with who Kriemler collaborated for the collection.

The Kinderstern first created in 1989, stands for the rights of children and is part of an ongoing series, and the image has been reproduced throughout the Akris SS21 collection. Akris will use the Kinderstern shape on a bag charm to raise money for the Kinderstern charity. The charm comes in an array of different colours and is priced 140 pounds.

Each year, Akris will continue the commemoration with a new ‘Symbol of Purpose’ accessory, and a portion of sales will be donated to a chosen charity.

Image: courtesy of Akris

Lily and Lionel x Katie Leamon

British print house, Lily and Lionel, known for its womenswear is collaborating with British stationery and card brand Katie Leamon on its first stationery collection. The Heirloom Stationery collection has been launched to mark International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day and will donate 15 percent of March sales to Equality Now, an advocate for the protection and promotion of human rights of women and girls.

Alice Stone, Lily and Lionel founder, explains in the press release that she has always wanted to create a stationery collection using her prints, as her grandmother Lily, who the brand is named after was a huge advocate of letter writing. The collection includes notebooks, wrapping paper and cards, and is available on Katie Leamon’s website. Prices ranging from 4 to 25 pounds.

Image: courtesy of Lily and Lionel x Katie Leamon

Burberry champions young voices to celebrate International Women’s Day

British heritage brand Burberry is marking International Women’s Day by championing the voices of young women and strengthening its support of charities London Youth and The Prince’s Trust, with donations to provide resources and development opportunities for young women.

Working with London Youth, Burberry is providing a donation to help fund programmes for young women and girls across the charity’s network of over 600 community youth organisations. In addition, Burberry has donated to longstanding charity partner, The Prince’s Trust ‘Women Supporting Women’ initiative, to enable hundreds of women access to virtual speed interviews with employers, and online courses to develop employability skills and education support through the Change a Girl’s Life campaign.

To celebrate International Women’s Day it has also made a celebratory film with London Youth ambassadors Kalliyah, Margarett, Maya and Shakira and members of the Burberry family, including models Aaron Philip, He Cong, Irina Shayk, Jourdan Dunn, Lea T and Mariacarla Boscono, artist Jazz Grant and June Sarpong, BBC director of creative diversity, to discuss themes ranging from modern womanhood to their hopes and ambitions for the future.

Dancing Leopard launches a ‘Sisterhood’ charity T-Shirt

Women’s fashion brand Dancing Leopard is supporting Women for Women International with the launch of its ‘Sisterhood’ charity T-shirt. Featuring an original line drawing of a woman to the front, drawn by our in-house designer, the T-shirt aims to raise money and awareness for the charity that helps women survivors of war and conflict to rebuild their lives.

Made from 100 percent organic cotton and printed with eco-friendly ink, the charity T-shirt is Fair Wear accredited and PETA approved. The T-Shirt is available in sizes 6-18 and costs 24 pounds.

Jade Hildreth, founder and chief executive of Dancing Leopard, said: “To mark International Women’s Day, we wanted to do something that would make a difference to the lives of women who are struggling. We’re so grateful for the important work that Women for Women International do and we couldn’t be happier to be supporting them with this t-shirt. We hope it helps to raise awareness while championing the message of sisterhood.”

Image: courtesy of Dancing Leopard

Matilde Jewellery unveils Deusa ring

Matilde Jewellery the new eponymous sustainable fine jewellery brand by Matilde Faria Mourinho Felix, daughter of Tottenham Hotspur boss José Mourinho, has launched an exclusive ring for International Women’s Day 2021. The Deusa is a recycled 14k gold and lab-grown diamond ring that has been designed to make a “statement about female power and energy,” explains Felix, and features 21 lab-grown diamonds in a wrap-around cuff style.

The Deusa ring, priced 450 pounds, will donate 10 percent of all sales to Plan International, a charity committed to changing the lives of girls around the world by giving them access to equal opportunities.

Image: courtesy of Matilde Jewellery

Mango teams up with Mexican artist Ana Leovy

Spanish retailer Mango has teamed up with Mexican artist Ana Leovy to create a sustainable capsule women’s day collection that includes two t-shirts and a tote bag featuring Leovy’s illustrations. All profits from the collection will be donated to the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, an incentive that promotes gender equality projects in southern India.

Image: courtesy of Mango

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