Collections to celebrate International Women’s Day
▶ Net-a-porter and 12 female designers have collaborated to mark International Women’s Day. Sarah Maisey reports
Twelve designers, 13 pieces, 100 per cent to charity. To mark International Women’s Day next Monday, Net-a-porter has partnered with a dozen female designers who have created a collection of 13 one-off pieces spanning the fields of fashion, jewellery and homewear.
These cost from Dh345 to Dh1,400, and will be sold exclusively through the online fashion platform, which will donate 100 per cent of the profit to Women for Women International. The initiative marks the fourth time Neta-porter – and its consumers – have come to the aid of the charitable organisation that helps women living in conflict zones.
The designers and labels in question are some of the finest in their fields, and include: Stella McCartney, Emilia Wickstead, Ninety Percent, Westman Atelier, Tove, Jennifer Fisher, Simone Rocha, Anya Hindmarch and Amina Muaddi. Roxanne Assoulin and Alighieri represent the world of jewellery, while Anissa Kermiche brings her signature witty but risque homeware to the project.
Available exclusively on Net-a-porter.com (which itself was founded by a woman, Natalie Massenet, in 2000), the collection features nine T-shirts, all themed around female empowerment. Irish designer Simone Rocha’s version is pink, with the word “Sisters” written in gothic lettering, while Ninety Percent – the sustainable womenswear brand that gives 90 per cent of its profit to charity – presents one black and one white tee, both of which read “Incredible Women”.
Anya Hindmarch’s T-shirt features artwork from Margaret Calvert’s Woman at Work series that flips the wellknown road sign, while ethical label Stella McCartney has created a tee with a cartoon woman warrior astride a fire-breathing big cat, and emblazoned with the words “Female Rebellion”. Meanwhile, Roxanne Assoulin’s stacked and colourful beads bracelet spells out “Kind Woman”.
In addition to the highprofile designers, Net-a-porter has enlisted a host of prominent women to star in the accompanying campaign images. Modelling Ninety Percent’s designs are the British online street-dancing sisters The Jaiy Twins, while feminist author, activist and model Liv Little dons the top by Tove, which has “Womanhood” embroidered across the chest.
Salem Mitchell, the American model discovered on Instagram and famous for her full face of freckles, wears Simone Rocha’s top, while Japanese model and mental health activist Naomi Shimada wears the “Extraordinary. Women” tee by Emilia Wickstead. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Thierry Chow, who calls herself a fengshui designer and is known for her distinctive two-tone hair, sports Jennifer Fisher’s design, that reads “Unite Women”.
Alison Loehnis, president of Net-a-porter and Mr Porter, says it was especially significant for the company to get involved this year.
“After a year like no other, supporting and celebrating our global community of women has never been more important … We are proud to reinforce this commitment [to Women for Women International], while cultivating and inspiring meaningful change.”
WFWI works with some of the most vulnerable women in the world, those caught at the intersection of war, poverty, gender discrimination and the threat of sexual violence, and who face a daily struggle to survive.
Founded in 1993 by Iraqi activist Zainab Salbi, herself a survivor of the Iran-Iraq War, and her husband, Amjad Atallah, WFWI has helped hundreds of women in the Balkans, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Afghanistan.
In 2017, the organisation established programmes in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, to support women across Iraq and Syria, including Yezidi women fleeing ISIS brutality, while in Nigeria, it has helped
All profits from sales of the T-shirts, themed on female empowerment, will go towards helping women in conflict zones
women in Bauchi State escape violence at the hands of Boko Haram.
Brita Fernandez Schmidt, executive director and vice president for Europe and external relations, WFWI, says that having the support of a worldwide platform such as
Net-a-porter is critical. “Every woman has the power to transform her world and with this International Women’s Day campaign, Net-a-porter is investing in women who feel forgotten.
“Women survivors of war experience heavy burdens of poverty, violence and gender discrimination. Their daily worries of getting their children to school on time and ensuring there is enough food on the table are made worse by insecurity and instability.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has made life even more difficult,”
Schmidt says. “I am so grateful to everyone involved for using your voice and platforms to support women living in some of the world’s most dangerous places. By investing in women, we create a better world for all of us – a world that’s more equal, peaceful and prosperous. This collaboration shows the power of women, for women.”
International Women’s Day is a global movement that celebrates its 110th anniversary this year as a day to celebrate the achievements of women across all sectors, from economic to social to political, and call for further equality.
With no political or geographical affiliation, IWD is an organic, independent movement that, as its manifesto outlines, “belongs to all groups collectively, everywhere”, reiterating that it is not “country, group or organisation-specific”.
The first IWD rally took place in 1911 across Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany, when an estimated one million men and woman took to the streets to call for equal working and voting rights for women. In 1975, the United Nations marked the event for the first time, and introduced the annual theme, now taking place each year on March 8.
The theme for 2021 is “Choose to Challenge”, which invites supporters to pledge to challenge gender inequality, bias and stereotypes to help “forge an inclusive world”. In addition, supporters are asked to post a selfie to social media with one hand raised and the tag #ChooseToChallenge. The colours for 2021 include purple, for justice and dignity; green, for hope; and white, to symbolise purity and to echo the Suffragette movement of the early 20th century.
In addition to donating every penny of the profit raised from the collection, Net-a-Porter is giving an extra $1 to Women for Women International for every customer who posts on TikTok or Instagram using the tags #PowerToChange, @ womenforwomen and @netaporter until Monday.