The ceremony featured actor Rami Malek reciting a rousing poem by Amanda Gorman as well as performances composed by Thomas Roussel.
With March 8th, being International Women’s Day during Women’s History Month, what better time to highlight some incredible women-owned brands that I’ll be shopping for this Spring. These Women not only know how to set the trends but have made it their business to celebrate women and keep female empowerment at the root of their beauty and fashion brands.
- Meet Sonia Parvaneh, the Founder of “NIA”.
The Founder and Creative Director of “NIA“, Sonia Parvaneh, who launched her label “NIA the brand” in 2020, has always had a love for fashion. With Sonia growing up in Southern California it was only fitting that she name her brand using the last three letters of both Sonia and California. The relatively new fashion label is known for its effortless, yet chic loungewear. Check out some of Sonia’s pieces for NIA that’ll surely be your favorite go-to spring loungewear.
2. Meet Desi Perkins, Founder of both “DEZI” and “DEZI Skin”
The beauty vlogger, makeup guru, entrepreneur, and mother, knows a thing or two about style. Desi Perkins’s wildly popular, luxury eyewear line, Dezi, is built on two of her main values-“confidence and creativity.” Confidence is also one of the main values Dezi Skin is built on, with part of the brands’ mission being to help women feel confident in their own skin. With Spring knocking on the door, a new pair of sunnies, some awesome skin-care products, and a sprinkle of confidence are at the top of my shopping list.
3. Meet Julianne Goldmark, the Founder of “Emi Jay”.
Julianne Goldmark turned her after-school hustle and passion project into what is now the trendiest hair accessories brand today. The now 26-year Founder of “Emi Jay“, relied on hair accessories as a form of self-expression while growing up having to wear a school uniform. What started out as her designing and creating her own
hair accessories, to selling them to her friends, has turned into a business of her own. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve certainly seen Emi Jay’s coveted “Big Effing Claw Clip” on “It Girls” like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Ellie Thurman. Fortunately for us, Emi Jay just recently launched the perfect Spring hair accessories. Check out a few pieces from Julianne’s “Super Bloom” collection for Emi Jay below.
Super Bloom Clip Muai $15
Super Bloom Clip Guava $15
Super Bloom Clip Wild Orchid $15
Super Bloom Clip Coconut $15
4. Meet Laura Hall and Gillian Rose Kern, the Founders of “For Love & Lemons.”
Photo via Instagram @kelseaballerini + @mollyddickson
Founders of “For Love & Lemons” Laura Hall and Gillian Rose met at the young age of 11 in Wyoming, where they had a small lemonade stand together. Today Laura and Gillian share “For Love & Lemons”, an LA-based fashion brand where they’ve brought their childhood fantasy world of “female camaraderie, compassion, and love” to life. For Love & Lemons has some of the most gorgeous pieces for spring and has caught the eye a few celebs. Just recently singer and songwriter Kelsea Ballerini was spotted wearing the cutest For Love & Lemons top (that’s on sale btw) during her rehearsal for the ACM awards.
5. Meet Emily H. Rudman, the Founder of “Emilie Heathe”.
Emily H. Rudman Photo by Sam Wallander
Emilie Heathe is a conscientious beauty brand founded by Emily H. Rudman. Emily spent her childhood being inspired by the bold colors of the superheroes in some of her favorite comic books and soon began drawing. Over the years Emily went from sketching and coloring on paper to being a top makeup artist for brands like MAC and AVON. Emilie Heathe’s latest launch in collaboration with “The Batman” pays homage to Emily’s beginnings as an artist inspired by her favorite comic heroes, and can inspire young women everywhere that their dreams can come true too! While Emilie Heathe has a wide array of clean beauty products and toxin-free nail polishes, “The Batman Trilogy” collection has three of the most stunning shades for Spring!
The Batman Trilogy Collection $80
6. Meet Mary Furtas, the Founder of CULTNAKED.
Meet Mary Furtas, the Ukrainian Founder and Creative Director of the celebrity-loved “slow fashion” brand, “CULTNAKED”. Mary recalls being heavily influenced by American pop culture while growing up in Ukraine. Over time Mary developed a genuine love for fashion and decided she wanted to become a photographer. After much success throughout the fashion world as a photographer, Mary built her brand “CULTNAKED” on her desire to “reinvent going out clothes” that were comfortable, feminine, and inspired by the early 2000s aesthetic that fueled her love for fashion as a young girl. Not only did Mary create her brand to empower women but she is also an advocate for the “slow fashion movement”. The Ukrainian-based brand has begun following suit with other “slow fashion” brands and is hoping to reduce their environmental impact by doing monthly drops, as well as, using a “make-to-order production model.
While the brand has had a huge buzz surrounding their clothing seen on major celebrities like Megan Fox, Ariana Grande, and Kylie Jenner; Mary Furtas has recently used her platform to spread awareness on Russian attacks in Ukraine. When visiting the CULTNAKED website, the option to donate to help Ukrainians during this crisis is available.
Pastel blue feathers, metallic sequins, and bright pink tulle were all in attendance for Christian Cowan’s annual fashion show in collaboration with The Powerpuff girls on March 8th. Located in the heart of Hollywood at the ever-so sleek, NeueHouse, the stars came out for a night in celebration of the new line to kick off International Women’s Day.
This International Women’s Day, celebrate womanhood in style with these companies that give back and promote female empowerment.
We are defined by what we choose to hear. The Sonos Store in SoHo chose to showcase the voices of rising female artists during their International Women’s Day event, in partnership with international hub shesaid.so. The Sonos retail store transformed into a listening lounge, complete with a female-only playlist and pop-up boutiques by local women-run companies.
International Women’s Day is being celebrated from coast to coast. This year Moët Hennessy hosted a special night to toast the holiday, as well as the pioneering women in the wine industry.
Time For Ilhan documentary chronicles the beautiful and seemingly impossible triumph of the first Muslim woman to ever hold legislative office in America, Ilhan Omar.
On Wednesday night, Netflix held a red carpet for Jessica Jones second season. The new episodes aired earlier today, March 8th, for International Women’s Day. The Knockturnal spoke with some of the stars, along with the show’s composer and executive producer.
Standing strong for abuse survivors and raising awareness for the cause, Australian/ Sri Lankan artist ELSZ delivers a powerful song and video on International Women’s Day.
On Wednesday, March 2nd, Margaret Isa Butler, a private equity and real estate lawyer at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, proudly hosted her second women’s salon in order to toast to International Women’s Day and to discuss impact investments. The well planned out event took place in a private room with a beautifully decorated back patio located at New York’s very own restaurant, Michael’s.
The evening consisted of delicious hors d’oeuvres such as mini crab cakes, fried shrimp, tasty steak samplers and mini spring rolls. There were also quite a few influential women who attended including Tami Kesselman, Founder of SolveForGood and a prominent thought leader in the impact investing space and Tanya Rivero, Host of Wall Street Journal’s Lunch Break.
A glass of complimentary wine later, Margaret thanked every attendee for coming. “Welcome to todays salon,” she started. “A great compliment to philanthropy is impact investing so I thought we should talk about that today.”
She went on to say that she speaks to investors “that solve today’s most pressing social issues, ranging from environmental conservation to healthcare and education, but they don’t know how to go about it. I believe that if we have those conversations in this group, we can connect the problem-solvers and opportunities in order to support each other. So today, inspired by you, I have launched an impact investing vehicle for my family that will be focused on expanding opportunities for women and families, as well as social infrastructure and place-making initiatives.”
After sharing her exciting news, Margaret than gave the floor to Tami Kesselman who spoke about the importance of impact investing and how it can generate environmental and social impacts complimentary to a financial return.
“Whats exciting about impact investment is that we’re starting to see that it’s not an asset class,” said Kesselman.
Additional guests in attendance included: Anne Anquillare, Meg Bradt, Leeann Brzozowski, Dr. Chantal Line Carpentier, Mari Capolongo, Alina Casner, Wendy Craft, Xiomara Frans-Cuber, Lauren Din, Tracy Doyle, Carrie Durant, Elise Fabbro, Corinne Faria, Simone Farhi, Julie Gionfriddo, Nell Hanlon, Dr. Milana Hogan, Colette Iagrossi, Melissa Kalt, Celina Kuouch, Marissa Lippert, Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso, Rachel Marshak, Maleeha Metla, Pamela Minetti, Jackie Ng, Won Palisoul, Robyn Polansky, Elizabeth O’Neill, Angela Lockhart Raitzin, Leesa Rowland, Adrienne Smith, Raphaelle Tisserand, Jennifer Van Ness, Patricia Keim Weingard and Cathy Yoon.
Margaret Isa Butler created this monthly women only salon series to bring the most influential female leaders in business, philanthropy, fashion, music, and entertainment into one room. Each time the women gather, they enjoy lite bites and enlightened and lively discussions about cultural concerns and women’s issues.
Photo credits to Patrick McCullan.