• Mark Buxton
Happy International Women's Day from everyone at Daniel Footwear! To celebrate International Women's Day, we want to shout out the women behind the brands! Discover some of the female-owned brands we offer at Daniel Footwear and brands run by female CEOs who are making a difference in their communities to help you support women-owned businesses this March!
Table of contents:
- When is International Women's Day?
- What is International Women's Day?
- Best women-owned fashion brands
When is International Women's Day?
International Women's Day 2024 is on the 8th of March, which falls on a Friday this year.
What is International Women's Day?
International Women's Day is a globally celebrated event celebrating women's social, economic, cultural and political achievements. It also promotes a call to action to accelerate gender equality through education and awareness campaigns and encourages fundraising for female-focused charities.
Anyone can participate in the cause by partaking in one of the many IWD campaigns, events, rallies, lobbying, performances, festivals, parties, fun runs, or celebrations.
Best women-owned fashion brands
At Daniel Footwear, we want to celebrate our favourite women-owned fashion brands to mark International Women's Day. From humble beginnings to inspiring ideas to hardworking women, we are proud to offer some fantastic female-owned businesses and brands at Daniel Footwear with strong female leaders at the head that we can't stay silent about.
Charlotte Simone
Charlotte Beecham is a London-based female entrepreneur who started Charlotte Simone in 2015. Inspired by Parisian fashion and their ability to build an outfit around a single accessory, Charlotte sought to reinvent the everyday scarf.
Since her initial success, she has included outwear in her collections, worn by celebrities like Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Taylor Swift and many more.
Her collections feature faux fur, knits and woven fabrics and are home to London's most iconic faux fur accessories.
Striving for a more conscious and creative fashion industry by creating less but better, Charlotte Simone also has a sustainable approach to fashion, with all her collections produced in limited quantities to ensure a carefully curated, small-scale production.
Charlotte Simone also collaborates with several London-based artisans for sampling and materials to reduce the brand's shipping impact and to support local businesses.
Charlotte's brand is making a difference to change the fashion industry one coat at a time.
Anya Hindmarch
Anya Hindmarch has become synonymous as an iconic British designer with her quirky and whimsical accessory designs. With an entrepreneurial spirit, she tapped into the UK handbag market in the 1980s, successfully selling 500 drawstring leather bags through the Harpers and Queen magazine.
She went on to open a retail shop in London, blending luxury Italian design, high-quality materials and a British sense of humour in her designs.
Since the 90s, Anya has grown into a global brand. Known for her luxury, organisational-obsessed accessories and ground-breaking work in sustainability.
Her "Be A Bag" concept invited customers to personalise a handbag with a photographic image as a campaign to support Breast Cancer Awareness. It has since benefited other charitable causes.
Anya Hindmarch is also committed to manufacturing responsibly and is constantly striving to innovate to reduce her environmental impact. Her most famous campaign was her I Am A Plastic Bag project, where she created a shopping bag made from 32 half-litre plastic bottles.
As a trustee of the Royal Marsden and a Greenpeace Ambassador, the London-based designer uses her platform to improve the local and wider community.
Marté
We, of course, have to shout about our very own Victoria Angus, founder of Marté. After 20 years of experience in the footwear industry, she decided she wanted to approach footwear retail differently. Instead of prioritising strategic planning and sales targets, Marté focuses on corporate kindness and sustainability.
Marté trainers aim to create more sustainable, accountable and traceable footwear that future generations can benefit from.
All the leather used in the trainers is 100% Italian and certified by The Leather Working Group, the world's leading organisation providing environmental certification for sustainable leather manufacturing.
Furthermore, all Marté trainers are made within the EU to guarantee the highest supply chain standards and worker's rights. They are also 100% chrome-free leather to protect water courses from harmful by-products traditionally used in the leather industry. Lastly, Marté trainers come in recycled packaging to reduce their carbon footprint.
Female-founded and sustainable to the core, Marté is showing how to create and contribute to a better future in the footwear industry.
Barbour
Although founded by a man, Dame Margaret Barbour is the current chairman of Barbour. Together, with her daughter as vice chairman, the pair have used their platform to improve women's lives in Tyne & Wear and Northumberland by setting up the Women's Fund in 1999 to encourage and support women.
Within this charity, Margaret also set up The Nancy Barbour Award in 2000 to recognise organisations helping women to play a more active role in the community, particularly those working with a disability.
Dame Margaret Barbour also set up The Barbour Foundation to support charities and good causes, primarily in the North East, and support research for causes of chronic illness.
Margaret also has a keen business mind and was instrumental in the Barbour product and brand development throughout her time in the company, turning their rural brand into an international urban fashion icon in 40 countries.
Coach
Joanne Crevoiserat is another excellent example of a strong female presence working at the board level who has had significant success during her tenure. Since her appointment as CEO of Tapestry, Inc. in 2020, the parent company of Coach, she helped Tapestry weather the rocky pandemic era and turned around the flagship brand Coach, which is now poised to become the biggest fashion conglomerate in the US.
By ushering in a digital transformation which helped Tapestry understand their consumers better and more efficiently meet their desires, their e-commerce sales soared, reaching an overall turnover of $6.7 billion in 2022, an 11% increase from pre-pandemic levels.
MIISTA
Founded by Laura Villasenin in 2010 in East London, MIISTA values democratic price points for its luxury items, the highest quality European-only sourced materials and the idea that we should shop less and make products that last.
MIISTA runs its own factory in Spain, enabling it to control the footwear-making process and invest in handmade products and artisans. All the luxury items from MIISTA can be mended, making them last longer.
Rather than mass-produced footwear, MIISTA takes time to hand-make every item, investing in artisans and slow fashion.
By only sourcing materials from Italy, Portugal, and Spain, they reduce their shipment and flight times and, therefore, their carbon footprint.
Laura Villasenin and MIISTA is another example of a female entrepreneur radically doing things differently in the footwear industry to forge a better world for future generations.
Celebrate International Women's Day at Daniel Footwear
Whether you want to support women-owned businesses this International Women's Day or treat that special woman in your life, shop for women-owned fashion brands at Daniel Footwear from the list above.
Or, browse our women's footwear, bags and accessories to find that perfect gift for the exceptional lady in your life.
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