IFD Soundbites: Recent Episodes

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FIRESIDE CHAT WITH CARAGH BENNET CO-FOUNDER OF THE ZENA BRAND

"Our bottom line is to see the women establish their own bottom lines.” These are the words of Caragh Bennet, our guest today, who has made it their life's purpose and brand to rewrite stories and empower women through sustainable fashion design and entrepreneurship.

The Zena Brand puts its community first with the notion that it isn't always about generating profit, but rather, about living out your purpose and finding fulfillment through it. Truly, when we are so passionate about what we're doing, no matter what challenges come our way, we can find ways to innovate, and we can continue to provide for our community no matter what.

This episode is filled with inspiration on numerous levels, from The Zena Brand's commitment to sustainability along with the use of raw materials, to how to start and run an enterprise that you are passionate about, to empowering women by providing them with lifelong skills that can ultimately help them achieve their dreams.

Caragh Bennet & The Zena Brand - From Fun Accessories to Serious Impact

Women living in rural poverty face two major barriers to business opportunity: a lack of education and a lack of capital. The Zena Brand set out to change that.

Caragh Bennet is the co-founder of The Zena Brand, a non-profit jewelry line that has purely social impact based in Kampala, Uganda. Together with Loren Thomas, they founded Zena with the single promise of changing the global stories of gender inequality and extreme poverty by investing in female entrepreneurs.

Key Highlights:

Tune in to this podcast and learn:

• How they met in university, then interviewed 50 women from rural Uganda with the hope of building relationships with people from a completely different culture (08:05)
• Introduced the concept of social entrepreneurship and employment in Uganda, where the idea of Zena came from (10:18)
• Their biggest achievement was partnering with Diane Von Furstenberg at Bloomingdale's last year to celebrate The Lion King on International Women's Day (13:58)
• What their brand looked like early on, before it went through a significant rebranding to a younger demographic that better reflects their values (15:19)
• Their favorite memories starting Zena, as well as some challenging times (17:51)
• Caragh describes their journey to the book she read entitled “ Shoe Dog by Phil Knight a memoir by the creator of Nike” (17:58)
• Experiencing the pandemic was like going into a boxing ring - a fight of your life (18:29)
• How they turned their business's greatest fear into their strength (19:35)
• Why agricultural agriculture is a crucial industry for rural and farming communities (24:42)
• Their social act program has not only helped women escape poverty but also given children an opportunity to education (29:27)
• Their biggest advice to fashion design students pursuing this career path: to be intentional and to keep your purpose in mind (48:20)

Additional Resources:

The Zena Brand’s Website https://thezenabrand.com/

The Zena Brand on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thezenabrand/?ref=page_internal

The Zena Brand on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thezenabrand/

Book Recommendation: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight/dp/1508211809

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FIRESIDE CHAT WITH RACHEL KINLEY FOUNDER OF MERIDIAN LEE

Rachel Kinley said “I had a friend who just ask me to... if I would do a volunteer project development job for nonprofit,” got her into the concept of bringing joy in the day-to-day and deep satisfaction in the livelihoods of people who aren't granted enough privilege, freedom, and pride of providing for their families themselves. Rachel has worked tirelessly since then to help those in need.

In this episode, we'll hear from Rachel Kinley about what motivated her to get involved in economic and charitable actions that helped people, especially women, see hope, human dignity, and power to fight poverty and slavery through Fashion Design Industry.

Victims to Women Entrepreneurs

Human trafficking, or slavery, is undoubtedly one of the world's most serious issues, especially for women. Aside from that, women are stereotyped; they are regarded as house-people, whose sole purpose is to serve their families. But what the world didn’t know about, is that most of these women are actually the reason behind fashion products that we own or buy at the malls but were paid subsistence wages and suffer poverty. Rachel, who grew up appreciating the importance of not just the products but also the people who make them, traveled the globe with the purpose of helping them. Rachel gave those people better access to the Fashion Industry Market. She showed them a path to equality and integrity using their own Skills and Voices that will prove to the world that women are capable of creating an economic shift where women will no longer need western organizations to give them clean water, food, and medicine as they earn unjustly, they will be able to choose what they want to and will be able to lift themselves up with confidence and pride.

Rachel Kinley & Meridian Lee

Rachel, a Product Designer/Developer, has worked in the fashion industry for over 20 years. Working in the fashion industry piqued her interest in who created the fashion designs that we have today; she discovered that the majority of those who made those, were women who suffered from slavery and human trafficking. She then pursued her "calling "of changing the world for women and began running Meridian Lee for 6 years.

Meridian Lee exists to work alongside people on the path to freedom from modern-day slavery. Right now, there are more slaves than at any other time in the history of the world. But there is hope as the world becomes smaller and more connected.

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FIRESIDE CHAT WITH SHIVAM PUNJYA FOUNDER OF BEHNO

What if there was a more innovative way to improve your people's quality of life? It's not uncommon for young brands to be taught to operate in their own traditional way. However, in our current environment when everything changes, we have to figure out how to do things differently. Shivam Punjya, founder of Behno, came from a non- conventional background, yet continues to impact the Fashion Design Industry by transforming workers' lives.

In this episode, Shivam shares the unique path he took to become an entrepreneur, finding his place in the fashion industry, and using his undergrad experience to help him move forward. He explains why he encourages his team to dream big, learn, make mistakes and not be afraid to work for companies that don't do things like traditional ones, and how his "Behno Standard" principles have helped them grow into the fashion label company they are now.

Shivam Punjya & Behno

Shivam Punjya is the founder and creative director of Behno, a New York-based clothing and

handbag company that was founded by a desire to improve the way the fashion industry approaches manufacturing. Shivam established the company not only to showcase impressive craftsmanship, but also to support India's garment workers -- most of whom are women, and can earn less than a dollar per day.

In pursuit to this goal, the brand created "The Behno Standard," a set of six operating tenets aimed at advancing the livelihood of its artisans. Across its factories, each female colleague is addressed by the name behn ("sister" in Hindi), symbolizing the sisterhood of empowered employees the brand strives to create.

Key Highlights:

Tune in to this podcast and learn:

• Shivam's professional background and personal story, including how he became an entrepreneur despite having no background in the fashion industry (01:26)
• What Shivam's experience brought to the founding of Behno, and how the company developed in the fashion industry and international development space( 04:14)
• What it means to work with a community that's been marginalized and neglected by so many people in the industry (06:16)
• Shivam's purpose in creating a factory and led him to create luxury products that saw manufacturing from a completely different perspective (06:49)
• How being an undergrad was an impactful experience for Shivam, which contributed to his success later on (09:33)
• Their brand name Behno, what it means, and why it affects so many factories in India (13:06)
• Behno: A personal name for people getting to know their grassroot partners on a very personal level (14:24)
• The Six Guiding Standard principles of Behno as a brand that includes access to healthcare services, education and transportation (14:36)
• Why choosing good partners is critical to putting together a diverse and fit team ( 17:48)
• What kind of world change would you like to see Behno make? (20:29)
• Shivam recalled stories of individuals who inspired him and gave him a renewed appreciation for what his branding company can accomplish (37:56)

Additional Resources:

• Behno’s website https://behno.com/
• Shivam Punjya on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivam-punjya-80489a13/
• Shivam Punjya on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shivampunjya/?hl=en

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“Whatever we do carries on to the next generation". The sustainability mindset for Aysegul began with this conviction and she treats it as if it is her life's purpose. As we change and adapt, our behavior is passed on to future generations.

After first navigating the challenge of finding clothing for herself, Aysegul decided to start her contemporary plus-size brand, Shegul. Shegul designs knock down stereotypes and empower women, making them feel confident and look beautiful. She is passionate about empowering women on the journey to sustainability while serving her community.

Today, Rabia Farhang, founder of Bgood collective interviews a former colleague and a long time friend, Aysegul Ilter of the Shegul brand. Rabia has seen the world as interconnected with all of us having collective responsibility to bring positive change and impact in what we do. Beyond passion, Aysegul is committed to accountability and making future things happen.

Together, Aysegul and Rabia are like-minded change-makers driven to create social impact through their work and businesses. Find out more how they achieve this through sustainable solutions on this episode.

BGOOD COLLECTIVE & SHEGUL BRAND

Rabia Farhang, is the founder of Bgood Collective, a sustainability agency working with small and midsized purpose-driven companies to improve their impact on the environment and society, and Aysegul Ilter, is the founder of Shegul, a brand founded on the principle of thoughtful craftsmanship. Shegul brand designs are created specifically for the curvier woman, with an eye for finer fabrics and materials; with emphasis on longevity, through superior construction techniques and exceptional fit.

Being aware of the waste and some of the inefficiencies in the fashion industry, and having a new outlook and mindset on using fashion as a force for good to bring about change, both of them have a thriving fashion brand. They both knew the values that fashion should represent- sustainability and social responsibility.

Today, her sustainability journey continues as she added a carbon offset project with local villages in Turkey to her impact strategy. Shegul establishes the Carbon Offsetting Program that provides mid-term income to low-income families by planting nut trees.

As we sit down with Rabia and Aysegul, we'll hear more of their personal stories, how they started their own businesses, the challenges they faced, their vision of the future of fashion, and the importance of building a strong community around them.

Additional Resources:

Rabia Farhang on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/rabiafarhang/

Bgood Collective’s Website https://www.bgoodcollective.com/

Aysegul Ilter on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/aysegul-ilter-7510164/

Shegul Brand’s Website https://www.shegulny.com/

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FIRESIDE CHAT WITH SIMONE CIPRIANI FOUNDER OF ETHICAL FASHION INITIATIVE

Through this pandemic, we are able to examine the essentials - the foundations of life including our common life, our mutual interaction, and the future. We see sustainable fashion in that trend.

The idea of sustainability includes considering not only today's but tomorrow's world, and it is our responsibility to preserve the social and environmental capital of our global community. So what can we do to make the fashion industry more sustainable?

In this special episode of IFD Soundbites, we are joined by Simone Cipriani, Head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative as we explore the world of sustainable fashion and all the amazing innovation happening in this field. Throughout his career, Simone has always believed that responsibly produced fashion can impact the world for the better.

Simone Cipriani & Ethical Fashion Initiative

Simone Cipriani is the Head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative at the International Trade Centre (ITC) and appointed by the United Nations and WTO to eliminate waste and promote sustainability.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a UN fashion project that connects skilled artisans living in urban and rural poverty with the global fashion industry. The work empowers informal manufacturers and craftspeople to enter the international value chain - providing an income for some of the poorest people in the world.

During this episode, Simone discusses sustainability from several angles relating to the fashion industry, how to build a relationship with clothing by understanding your brand's story, and why we should keep environmental issues and human rights at the forefront of our minds as social acts that are interconnected and can bring people together.

In addition to discussing the biggest challenges he faced when marketing designing products, he offers some advice for fashion students who wish to take steps towards sustainability in their work.

Key Highlights:

Tune in to this podcast and learn:

• Sustainability defined from different perspectives (01:56)
• How can we educate people more about human rights sustainability (05:23)
• Why raw materials impact our environment first (07:08)
• The first block to sustainability for the environment and society in the supply chain of fashion, followed by the consumption of the goods we buy and the after-sales (08:55)
• Why innovation is the future of tomorrow, and why repurposing garments will be the gain (10:37)
• Fashion repurposing: How does it happen? (11:15)
• Why does this sustainability need to be a global effort? (23:49)
• Inequality: This is one of the most pressing problems facing the world today (26:41)
• The Sustainable Development Goals are the goals of humanity, for a decent future for all (28:06)
• War, conflict, poverty, or lack of opportunities to reunite fractured societies require continuity (31:03)
• How can we motivate fashion students to pursue sustainability in their work? (37:31)
• Why knowing the material properties, touching it, and understanding the logic of accounting are extremely important when starting out in the fashion industry (38:34)