Purpose is the New Power

Fashion Value Chain

20-06-2025

How Women Are Redefining Impact at the Intersection of Fashion, Beauty, and Business
At the 2025 Women of Impact Summit, hosted by Delivering Good, a new narrative emerged: one where purpose-led leadership and cross-industry collaboration are shaping the future of fashion and beyond.
2025 DG WOIS Photo Credit Layra Marte
In an era where storytelling and social value are as critical as silhouette and stitch, the 2025 Women of Impact Summit at the Fashion Institute of Technology brought together more than 250 leaders to celebrate a rising shift in the fashion and textile world — the growing fusion of purpose and profit. Hosted by nonprofit Delivering Good, an organisation that connects individuals and families in need with new products that open doors to hope, dignity, and opportunity. The event focused on how women are leveraging fashion, beauty, tech, and finance to build more equitable, conscious, and community-driven futures.
The Summit's panels reflected a broader movement taking hold across the creative economy. Fashion is about what your brand stands for. Industry veterans and new voices alike discussed how sustainability, inclusivity, and digital disruption are no longer niche concerns but foundational pillars.
A standout trend? Radical reinvention. Journalist Lisa Marsh set the tone early by encouraging attendees to 'stay curious' and embrace multi-hyphenate careers — a nod to how today's fashion leaders are shifting from legacy roles into multi-sector entrepreneurship. This was echoed by Emily Hikade of Petite Plume, whose transition from CIA operative to luxury sleepwear founder shows how agility and vision are reshaping leadership pathways in the fashion world.
Throughout the day, fashion insiders and adjacent innovators explored how impact is no longer measured solely by the bottom line. In the Beauty, Unfiltered panel, inclusive branding was reframed not as an initiative but as an imperative. As a panellist and 2020 Miss Earth, Lindsey Coffey noted, 'The next generation of leaders is not waiting to be handed power, they're creating it. And beauty, when it's unfiltered and inclusive, can be a catalyst for real change.'
Key themes that emerged across the Summit included:
Sustainable Supply Chains as Standard: From material innovation to end-of-life circularity, sustainability was not positioned as a trend, but the new baseline for ethical production.
Financial Equity Meets Fashion: Executives from Blackstone, Salesforce, and Mastercard discussed how wealth-building tools must be accessible — particularly for women in creative fields navigating entrepreneurship.
Tech-Enabled Creativity: From AI-powered retail platforms to digital try-ons and intelligent inventory management, the conversation spotlighted how tech continues to merge with fashion to elevate customer experience and reduce waste.
Emotional Impact of Clothing
: Stories from Delivering Good's partners revealed a quieter but deeply resonant trend — clothing as a form of emotional restoration. FIT President Dr. Joyce Brown and high school student Khosi Ahmed both emphasised how receiving new apparel builds confidence and dignity in vulnerable communities.
The presence of powerhouse names like Danessa Myricks, MM.LaFleur's Sarah Miyazawa LaFleur and KraveBeauty's Liah Yoo drove home one clear takeaway: the future of fashion belongs to those who lead with purpose and aren't afraid to challenge the system.
Andrea Weiss, Board Chair of Delivering Good, shared, 'For 40 years, Delivering Good has been making an impact, not just the buzzword but a real impact in the lives of those facing poverty, disaster, and other social challenges. The intersection with the Women of Impact Summit lies in the fact that many of the recipients of DG's work are women: women rebuilding after natural disasters, young women ageing out of foster care, women fleeing domestic violence or trafficking. The link between the Summit and Delivering Good's mission is clear: when we engage and empower women, we can change entire communities.'
From the C-suite to the supply chain, women are rewriting the rules of fashion and textiles, proving that conscious leadership isn't just aspirational, it's actionable.