International Women’s Day has been celebrated in the U.S. since 1911. However, even after over 100 years of recognition and organizing, data from the World Economic Forum suggests it will take until 2158 to reach full gender parity. That’s why IWD leaders have chosen “Accelerate Action” as the theme for International Women’s Day March 8, 2025.
“Focusing on the need to Accelerate Action emphasizes the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality,” writes IWD. “It calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.”
Do your part to accelerate equal economic empowerment this year by frequenting women-owned businesses such as these:
Colony
Founded and curated by Jean Lin, Colony is a community of independent furniture, lighting, textiles and objects designers coming together on a New York City stage to celebrate American design with an international audience.
Alkemis Paint
Touted as the “world’s first wellness paint,” Alkemis Paint offers premium, all-natural mineral paint made from artist-quality crystalline pigments that promote both human wellness and environmental consciousness. Co-founded by Maya Crowne and Price Latimer, the product is ethically produced to help customers breathe easier and live more harmoniously.
Caminito
Born from a love for local craft and the simple joys of life, Caminito — meaning “small wandering path” — is a celebration of the rich traditions of Mexico and California through handcrafted goods. Vibrant blankets hand-woven in Mexico, paired with leather straps handmade in San Diego, are a tribute to Mexico’s vibrant culture and craftsmanship.
Miminat Designs
Miminat Shodeinde is a British Nigerian artist and designer, born and raised in London. By blending the complementary and contradictory, whilst embracing the integration of the old and the new, she creates timeless furnishings, objets and lighting where art and architecture meet.
Poppy
Company founder and collection designer Jennifer Hunt takes a studio artist’s approach to her original collection of prints for residential and commercial wallcoverings, produced in-house in the Midwest and shipped worldwide.
Domain by Laura Hodges Studio
In addition to running an interior design firm located in the Baltimore / Washington D.C. area, Laura Hodges also heads Domain, a boutique shop curating handmade, sustainably sourced and fair trade home decor and gifts. A curated selection of vintage goods that offer character and charm sets this shop apart.
SampleHAUS
Diana Adams got her start in ceramics by creatively up-cycling interior design waste into eclectic home decor. “While working at an interior design firm, I was always surrounded by beautiful fabrics and other materials that mostly ended up getting thrown away, for reasons as discontinuation or project surpluses,” she writes. “I decided to begin collecting these excess materials and that’s when SampleHAUS was born.” The resulting collection features bold graphic African patterns and bright colors.
Saint Heron
Designed by multidisciplinary artist Solange Knowles and produced by glassblower Jason McDonald, Saint Heron’s Small Matter Art Objects: Glassware 001 materializes the palpable transformation of sand and fire into unique glass objects. The collection’s intention is to inspire communal connection through gatherings, while deepening artistic interest in the sprightly contributions of Blackness to design, objects, and architectural glassblowing.
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to aspire design and home magazine.