#InspireInclusion theme for International Women’s Day – a look back and forward
Step into a century of history – the inaugural International Women’s Day (IWD) unfolded in March 1911. March 8 dives into a day of global activism and celebration dedicated to uplifting women worldwide. The U.N. advocates, ‘Invest in women: Accelerate Progress.’ In 2024, embrace #InspireInclusion, is aiming for a bias-free, stereotype-free, and discrimination-free gender-equal world. Wondering how to join? Read on! Discover ways to celebrate and support through food, fragrances, fashion and resources.
Inclusion in beverages and food
Brands are breaking barriers through women-led and women-uplifting initiatives. Chikas offers a delicious range of savory West African-inspired snacks. Founder Chika, the youngest of seven, invites you to “Discover the Magic of Winter Flavours,” drawing inspiration from her family recipes that bring joy. Through her snacks, she helps to create jobs in her UK shop and her manufacturing facility in Lagos, Nigeria. You can read about Chika’s endeavors and discover recipes through her blog.
The McBride Sisters, the largest Black-owned wine company, hail from wine regions in Monterey, California, and Marlborough, New Zealand. While located nearly 7,000 miles apart and unaware of each other for half their lives, they came together in 1999. Starting a wine company and SHE CAN fund, they offer canned wines, bottled selections, and brunch ideas). Robin McBride’s message: “Encourage women to color outside the lines, never settle, and empower each other because, as we always say, empowered women empower women.”
Chanyu Xu, CEO of her1 in Berlin, passionately supports women’s holistic well-being across all ages and life stages. Focused on women’s health, sustainability, and the food tech industry, her1 offers functional foods, medicinal plants, and natural probiotics.
Female focused fragrances
Discover a fragrant revolution: women breaking into the fragrance industry’s traditional “nose” domain! Philippa Biles, part of this change at True Grace, united with her husband Roger to celebrate their love for delicate scents. True Grace evolved from a Portobello Market stall into one of England’s premier candle makers, operating from a sustainably focused, carbon-neutral factory. Their latest collection, Essence of England, embraces forest and nature therapy, whisking fans away to mossy, moody moors reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel!
Another notable woman to watch is Amy Christiansen, the founder of Sana Jardin Paris. She transitioned from addressing inequalities at The Clinton Foundation to supporting female “micro-entrepreneurs” in developing countries through fragrance. The popular Discovery Set offers eight vials, including flowers collected by chanting Moroccan women, with a £35 voucher redeemable against purchasing a full-size fragrance.
Similarly, female-founded FrassaÏ of Argentina offers a Discovery Set with 50 € that can get fully redeemed with any 50 ml/1.7 oz fragrance purchase. Realizing that Argentina and Latin America were little recognized in fine perfumery, Natalia Outeda created sensorial journeys. For 2024, her latest fragrance story Teisenddu, takes wearers on “a voyage on the Mimosa from Wales to Patagonia.”
Empowering Fashion
Want to show support through your clothing? Discover Eileen Fisher’s continuing collection – Love, Peru – an organic cotton fair trade project seeking to uplift the Peruvian community. Harvey Nichols offers several pieces, including the versatile knitted cotton tunic in neutral bone.
After decades of featuring Navajo-inspired designs, Ralph Lauren recently debuted the first “Artist in Residence” collection with Naiomi Glass, a seventh-generation Diné textile artist and designer. Sales will support Change Labs, a Native-led nonprofit preserving cultural heritage and aiding Navajo and Hopi small businesses with social and educational assistance.
Inspire others to help forge an inclusive world by sharing your #InspireInclusion image across social media using #IWD2024 #InspireInclusion.
