Fashion brands get behind International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day on March 8 is an annual global awareness event that places a spotlight on women’s rights and gender equality, and fashion retailers and ready-to-wear, accessory and jewellery brands are rallying around to give back to organisations that support girls, women and promote gender equality.

12 brands that are celebrating International Women’s Day 2020

Net-a-Porter launches female-designed T-shirts

Net-a-porter is celebrating International Women’s Day with its third partnership with Women for Women International with the launch of 20 exclusive T-shirts designed by female designers, with 100 percent of proceeds being donated to the charity which helps women living in war-torn countries to rebuild their lives.

The brands taking part are: Stella McCartney, Gabriela Hearst, Alexa Chung, Isabel Marant, Amina Muaddi, Carine Roitfeld, Jimmy Choo, Rotate, Bernadette, Rosie Assoulin, Staud, The Attico, The Range, The Frankie Shop, Ganni, Nanushka, Charlotte Tilbury, Cecilie Bahnsen, Roxanne Assoulin and Net-a-porter x Ninety Percent.

Each T-shirt has been designed to reflect the designers’ interpretation of female empowerment and strength, with Ninety Percent’s design calling out all ‘Incredible Women’, while The Attico’s Let Your Hair Down T-shirt inspires women to feel confident and comfortable in their own skin.

Stella McCartney uses an illustration from her autumn/winter 2019 campaign to evoke a sense of sisterhood and compassion, while Jimmy Choo has designing a tongue-in-cheek T-shirt that reads 'Choos women,’ and Ganni has created a bright and colourful design to highlight the strength and power of a united front, connecting women globally.

Alison Loehnis, president Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter, said: “This is such a meaningful project for us at Net-a-Porter. We feel incredibly honoured to be raising money for Women for Women International by bringing together inspiring and creative women from our industry in support of the charity’s critical work.”

The T-shirts range in price from 49 to 275 pounds.

Images: courtesy of Net-a-Porter

& Other Stories celebrates with #HerImageHerStory campaign

For International Women’s Day & Other Stories has commissioned nine female photographers - Gia Coppola, Wang Ziqian, Amanda Charchian, Grace Bukunmi, Lottermann and Fuentes, Wai Lin Tse, Laura Kampman and Ewa-Marie Rundquist to capture their self-portraits.

Anna Nyrén, head of co-labs, & Other Stories, said: “& Other Stories always encouraged individuality, so we wanted to make this year's Women's Day a true celebration of self-expression.

“By collaborating with photographers that we admire, asking them to share their stories through self-portraits, we hope to inspire our customers to reflect on their expressions and feel compelled to explore the powers of this age-old practice.”

& Other Stories is sharing these self-portraits on its social, as well as encouraging their customers to embrace the thought of expressing themselves and sharing their self-portrait on Instagram using the hashtag #herimageherstory.

The self-portraits commissioned will be made into limited-edition posters, and & Other Stories will donate all proceeds from these posters, along with 1 euro for every self-portrait posted on Instagram and tagged #herimageherstory during March, to Care, a poverty-fighting organisation that has a specific focus on women and girls.

Images: courtesy of & Other Stories

Fossil launches Bijou Karman capsule collection

Watch and accessories brand Fossil has teamed up with Los Angeles-based illustrator Bijou Karman on a capsule collection featuring the artist’s colourful illustrations inspired by unique women from around the world.

The capsule collection includes four watches, two earrings and two tote bags ranging in price from 25 to 109 pounds, with 25 percent of proceeds from the collection benefiting Girls Rising, a global charity that promotes education for young girls.

Image: courtesy of Fossil

Baukjen x Woman’s Trust

Online sustainable womenswear brand Baukjen has partnered with UK charity Woman’s Trust, an independent charity that provides free and specialist mental health care for women who have experienced domestic abuse, to launch their ‘Lilou’ charity T-shirt.

Baukjen, a brand designed “by women, for women”, has created a white T-shirt featuring the slogan ‘Solidarity’ a message that reflects the work of Woman’s Trust to support and empower women.

“International Women’s Day is always momentous,” said Baukjen founder and creative director Baukjen De Swaan Arons. “It allows us to unite with our customers and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the globe.”

The Lilou T-Shirt is available in UK sizes, priced 39 pounds/50 US dollars, and 50 percent of net proceeds from the sales of the charity tee will be donated to Woman’s Trust.

Image: courtesy of Baukjen

Pandora hosting a concert in London

Jewellery brand Pandora is hosting a charitable concert, Charms for Change in London on March 7 that will benefit Unicef.

The concert will be hosted by BBC Radio 1 presenter Maya Jama and includes guest performances by singers Anne-Marie and Mahalia, as well as a DJ set by Coco and Breezy, and Unicef ambassador and model Halima Aden will begin the concert with a speech about the charity organisation.

Tickets for the concert are 25 pounds each and Pandora will be donating 100 percent of the ticket sales to Unicef’s world for children and young people.

The brand is also releasing a Unicef ‘We Can Do Anything’ charm for 45 pounds with 12 pounds being donated to the charity.

Image: courtesy of Pandora

The North Face launches special International Women’s Day collection

The North Face is launching an all-female designed and manufactured collection in aid of International Women’s Day that will mark the very first line produced by a new all-female factory in Jordan.

The collection includes T-shirts in the bold iconic IWD colours made from technical fabric, and a tote bag, all which feature a vintage photograph sourced from the Yosemite Archives, showcasing two women on the summit of a cliff face, having climbed up in full-length dresses and heels.

Commenting on the campaign, The North Face’s vice president of marketing, Tina Rolen said: “The image of those women is one I think every woman today can draw power from. The North Face has been at the forefront of empowering and supporting women to achieve the unthinkable for over half a century and we’re excited to once again support the remarkable achievements and hard work shown by women such as Oryana.”

The T-shirt is priced 25 pounds.

Images: courtesy of The North Face

Moxie Chic launches celebrity co-designed IWD T-shirts

Moxie Chic, the female empowerment fashion company, has teamed up with celebrities Kristin Chenoweth, Melissa Joan Hart and Michelle Trachtenberg to celebrate International Women’s Day with a collection of co-designed T-shirts.

Chenoweth has designed a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘Leading Lady’, while Hart has co-designed a tee with a powerful and magical message, to remind women just how strong, smart and bold they are, while Trachtenberg’s tee ‘Woman World Juggler’ is an illustration of a women wearing combat boots juggling her power bolts and lipstick.

The three T-shirt designs are available in unisex adult, women’s semi-fitted, and youth styles, with prices ranging from 29.95 to 41 US dollars, with 100 percent of the profits going to Girls Inc., which empowers girls through mentoring relationships, girls-only safe spaces and research-based programming and advocates for legislation and policies to increase opportunities for all girls.

Image: courtesy of Moxie Chic

Loquet London launches Charms for Change

Jewellery brand Loquet London has launched its third Charms for Change collection designed by model and activist Marina Testino to benefit Period, a non-profit organisation that helps women access menstrual products, while helping to break the taboos that surround a women’s natural cycle.

The ‘Period’ charm is an 18kt solid yellow gold dot charm set with a pink tourmaline, with the inscription ‘Love Your’, in celebration of femininity and the power of a women’s cycle. The charm is priced 260 pounds and is designed to be added to one of the brands lockets.

Previous Charms for Change have been designed by Thandie Newton and Charlotte Colbert.

Images: courtesy of Loquet London

Banana Republic donates 100,000 US dollars in aid of International Women’s Day

American retailer Banana Republic has donated 100,000 US dollars to global charity, Care, which focuses on the advancement of women and girls around the world, in honour of International Women’s Day.

Alongside the donation, the retailer has also designed several speciality IWD pieces as a tribute to women and the fight for equality that will be available during the month of March. The first is The Empowerment Suit, an all-white suit inspired by the suffragettes, the jacket retails for 199 US dollars and the trousers for 98.50 US dollars.

The other piece is the Notorious Necklace, priced 98.50 US dollars, this bib-style necklace has glass stones and a velvet tie at the back that was originally released in 2012 and stands for empowerment and the fight for equality for all.

The brand is also launching a ‘Work Where?’ campaign of unconventional work, to challenge the traditional concept of where, how and why we work, and what we wear to do it. Directed by in-house by Banana Republic creative director Len Peltier, the campaign showcases a kinetic montage of videos and images on a range of real people breaking boundaries in the broad landscape of modern work.

Image: courtesy of Banana Republic

Camilla and Marc celebrating IWD with an Ovarian Cancer campaign

Australian designer label Camilla and Marc have launched the limited-edition ‘The Art Tee’ supporting the ‘Ovaries. Talk about them’ campaign in honour of International Women’s Day in memory of the design duo's mother to raise awareness and funding to find an early detection test for ovarian cancer.

The T-shirt, priced 163.20 pounds is a collaboration with Western Australian artist Rina Frieberg, and on the front, it celebrates and honours the female form and on the back, it features the word ‘ovaries’ highlighted in an alphabet format.

The brand will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Ovarian Cancer Research UNSW Sydney.

Image: courtesy of Camilla and Marc

Beulah x Nannacay limited edition bag

Social impact fashion brand Beulah London is launching a limited edition wicker bag on International Women’s Day, March 8 in partnership with Nannacay that provides economic opportunities for a collective of 200 artisans in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil by implementing training and workshops on skills development and financial management.

The ‘Flora’ wicker bag, handmade in Brazil, features a large tassle representing Beulah’s signature colours, along with a braided handle in natural silk that has been hand-woven by a single craftsman, making it unique, as one model is never the same as the other.

The bag will directly support the preservation of traditional Brazilian handwoven crafts, and 10 percent of all profits will be donated to Beulah's Impact Partners that support vulnerable and trafficked women in Bangladesh, Nepal and India via the Beulah Trust.

These funds are invested in further training and development for these women, enabling the brand to sustain and grow employment opportunities for greater numbers of women. Creating a sustainable, commercial, and creative vehicle that proves luxury fashion can be used as a force for good.

Image: courtesy of Beulah London

River Island puts focus on sisterhood

River Island has designed four slogans pieces ahead of International Women’s Day to raise money for Women Supporting Women, a group committed to changing the lives of young women at The Prince’s Trust charity.

From ‘Super Power’, ‘Let’s make herstory’ to ‘You are a limited edition’ and ‘Sisters support sisters’, the slogan tees and sweatshirts have been designed to reflect the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day ‘Each For Equal’ celebrating women’s achievements, individuality and sisterly solidarity.

For every T-shirt sold, River Island will be donating 5 pounds to The Princes Trust to support women in their services. Prices are 14 pounds for the T-shirt and 25 pounds for the crop sweatshirt and hoodie.

Image: courtesy of River Island