Women are breaking boundaries left and right in every industry from food to fashion, architecture to athletics. This International Women's Day, we are here to celebrate the inspiration, triumphs, and work of incredible women, starting with a few change makers. These are the women challenging the status-quo with their words, art, and abilities to facilitate important conversations and establish uplifting communities.
Cleo Wade
Unofficially titled the “millennial Oprah," Wade exudes empowerment through her writing and speaking. A voice for her generation, she speaks to social constructs and the female experience with as much elegance as criticism.
Vicky Tsai
The founder & CEO of cult-favorite beauty label TATCHA truly knows skincare, and it all started with her own complexion struggles. After seeking out advice from a geisha on how to cover up her concerns, Tsai learned about the rich history of Japanese skincare, the ingredients of which carry each product––from rice to seaweed.
Adwoa Aboah
This British model is more than just one of fashion's most stunning faces. Aboah started Gurl Talk, an online community for women to have open discussions about everything from sexuality to education. She is also the face of one of Barbie's new "Shero" dolls for International Women's Day.
Winnie Harlow
Winnie Harlow has redefined beauty in an industry steeped in tradition in terms of model aesthetics. Her confidence is robust and inspiring and has pushed the boundaries of the industry, making room for inclusion and every kind of beauty.
Olivia Locher
This young photographer's work has become synonymous with the millennial mind. Her photographs, which consistently confront troubling American ideologies, depict dreamscapes grounded in the eccentricities of real, modern-day life.
Audrey Gelman & Lauren Kassan
As co-founders of the all-women co-working space and social club The Wing, Gelman and Kassan have quite literally claimed space for themselves and modern, professional women in New York City.
Yayoi Kusama
Kusama's sculptural and installation artwork continues to push the expectations of the media she works with. Her renowned work has consistently won her a multitude of awards and rankings, in and beyond the world of art, and prevails in new exhibitions across the globe. She moves the viewers of her work to trust their minds and senses, an ask that breaks down societal borders––especially for women.
Marwa Al-Sabouni
Architect and author Al-Sabouni is rethinking the entire structure of cities, starting with her home in Homs, Syria, in order to reinspire peace and human connection. Not only does her acute awareness and analysis of how a city's surroundings have the potential to fuel violence inform her designs as an architect, but it's a methodology that's changing city planning as it's been known for decades.
Yola Jimenez
Jimenez is changing the name of the spirits game with her eponymous brand of mezcal. While her recipe pays homage to that of her grandfather, Jimenez has made sure that women are involved in her product's production from the farming of the agave to the women she partners with at an executive level (like Lykke Li!).
Sarah Thomas
Thomas soared above the boundaries formerly set for women in the NFL by being the first woman to officiate a major college football game as well as the first to officiate a bowl game and to officiate in a Big Ten stadium. This trifecta of achievement means Thomas is calling the shots in one of the most historically male-dominated arenas.
Marie Kondo
As the woman behind the millions of newly reorganized and irrevocably changed lives, Kondo is easily one of the most influential and inspiring women today. Her approach to life, as is represented in her ubiquitous term "spark joy," has opened Western minds to Eastern philosophies at an incredibly intimate and fundamental level.
Daniela Soto-Innes
The chef behind New York's famed restaurants Atla and Cosme, as well as a few other soon-to-be eateries on the West and East coasts, is bringing Mexican cuisine from all regions back to its roots in simplicity and sustainability. Her dishes and philosophies reflect an appreciation for balance and authentic wellness in a way that's unparalleled in the restaurant world.
Elizabeth Diller
Distinguished with TIME’s "100 Most Influential People" list, Diller's cross-genre work in architecture has awarded her the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship in the field. As she is with other projects currently, Diller, of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is at the forefront of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City's midtown expansion.
Zadie Smith
As one of the world’s preeminent fiction writers and essayists, Smith's voice has moved a generation of readers unsatisfied with the status-quo and the hindrances of social media when it comes to personal growth and change.
