#IWD2020: 8 Female-Led Asian Brands That You Should Know, From Fashion To Food

While International Women’s Day this year has already passed, it doesn’t mean that we should stop celebrating the many achievements of women to date. From developing much-needed sustainability solutions to leaving behind a positive social impact, there are women every day working hard to bring about change. Below are 10 brands led by women that are making the world a better place in their own ways. 

For Eco Beauty & Skincare

Purearth

Founded in 2012 by Kavita Khosa, Purearth is an award-winning ethical skincare and wellness brand offering fair-trade, toxin-free, vegan and cruelty-free beauty products. All its products are handcrafted in small batches with natural wild harvested ingredients, and is driven by a zero-waste ethos with its plastic-free packaging and free-of-charge recycling collection service. For every container returned, the company plants a tree. Committed to leaving behind an additional social impact, Khosa decided to partner up with a number of microcredit and grassroots organisations to help local marginalised women in the Himalayan region to engage with urban markets on fair terms. 

Purearth products are available online via their website. 

Zero Yet 100

Founded by two Hong Kong mums Anita Patel and Sheetal Avlani, ZeroYet100 is a local vegan-friendly and clean skincare brand. Its entire collection is formulated using only natural ingredients and is 100% free from synthetic nasties that are not only harmful to our own health and wellbeing but the environment too. Unlike conventional personal care and beauty products on the market, Anita and Sheetal’s products won’t pollute waterways and harm wildlife, and come in plastic-free and recyclable metal and glass containers. 

Zero Yet 100 products are available online via their website and store location in 702 Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong. 

For Natural Wellbeing & Feminine Care

LUÜNA Naturals

LUÜNA Naturals was founded in 2015 by Olivia Cotes-James out of a frustration of the lack of non-toxic menstrual products on the Asian market. Based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, her social impact period care brand offers monthly subscription boxes for 100% toxin-free, organic and natural cotton sanitary pads and tampons and a reusable menstrual cup product. Olivia’s brand is catered to women in Asia, where 90% of women currently use non-biodegradable synthetic feminine care products that not only wreak havoc on our health and wellbeing, but contribute a significant amount of landfill waste. Partnering with Hong Kong charity Free Periods, LUÜNA also supports low-income women with free sustainable and safe menstrual products as well as breaking menstrual taboos with mainland China-based NGO Bright & Beautiful. 

LUÜNA Naturals products are available online via their website. 

Heavens Please

Created in 2019 by Denise Tam and Terry Wu, Heavens Please is Hong Kong’s ultimate CBD wellness and lifestyle platform offering customers the best CBD products. In addition to curating high-quality CBD oils, tinctures and topical beauty and skincare products from the United States and United Kingdom – all of which contain only broad spectrum CBD and CBD isolates rather than full-spectrum CBD (which may have traces of THC, the psychoactive compound of the hemp plant) – Denise’s brand supplies the city’s first CBD beer made by OH CBD Beer HK. Plus, committed to being plastic-free, all of Heavens Please’s products are offered in glass jars and containers and cardboard packaging. 

Heavens Please products are available online via their website. 

For Socially Impactful & Green Fashion

Art Women 

Created in 2018 by Clarisse Akonyi who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is a refugee herself with the support of Tegan Smyth, Art Women is a creative collective of works by female asylum seekers in Hong Kong. In addition to offering a collection of handicrafts, fashion and jewellery pieces made by refugee women in the city, the group serves as a counselling and therapy platform for women who are overcoming traumatic events and everyday discrimination. Art Women also provides a safe environment aimed at empowering women with self-esteem, autonomy and personal power. 

Art Women products are available online via their website. 

MeMeraki 

MeMeraki is India’s first handcrafted artisanal brand on a mission to revive traditional folk arts with fashion. Founded in 2017 by Yosha Gupta, the MeMeraki works with over 100 artists to create beautiful handbags, totes, laptop cases and clutches using age old handicraft techniques with sustainable eco-friendly fabrics such as vegan cork and ethical leather from certified suppliers. Yosha’s brand is also dedicated to leaving behind a positive social impact, and has previously run a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build an art school for girls in an Indian village. 

MeMeraki products are available online via their website. 

For Healthy & Organic Food

Everything Organic HK

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Everything Organic is an Asia-Pacific distributor of organic foods and was launched by Susanna Chan in 2016. Working alongside CityFarm, Turkey’s largest and most established organic food brand and retailer, Susanna’s platform brings a whole range of quality organic foods to the Asia region, most of which are plant-based ingredients such as dried nuts and fruit, chocolate, oils, sauces and vinegars. 

Everything Organic products are available online via their website. 

Eat Fresh

Eat Fresh was originally launched in 2011 by three Hong Kong mums Naoko, Annamaria and Charlotte who were concerned about food safety and is now run by female health coach duo Mia Man and Martina Bin. Providing home delivery services of locally grown fresh organic fruit and vegetables, Eat Fresh hopes to offer customers healthy, top-quality HKORC certified produce alongside healthy recipes to inspire more people to eat whole plant produce. 

Eat Fresh produce is available online via their website. 

Lead image courtesy of listed brands and compiled by Green Queen Media.