WOMEN RULE

BY MARCY MEDINA

This International Women’s Day, we highlight seven fearless females driving change at some of South Coast Plaza’s brightest brands.

March 3, 2025

Celebrated each year on March 8 since 1911, International Women’s Day is a worldwide holiday for all who care about women’s equality and want to #AccelerateAction, the organization’s official 2025 hashtag. This year’s IWD theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,” is a call to action for equal rights, power and opportunities for everyone, particularly the next generation of young women and teenage girls. That statement resonates strongly with several women leading the way at some of world’s most beloved fashion houses. Some have founded and design eponymous brands. Many are household names we call by first name only. And all of them have been at it for years, shining a light on women while expressing themselves creatively. We take a closer look at seven female founders, creative directors and brand ambassadors who inspire us to learn what they’re doing to be catalysts for lasting change.

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SOUTH COAST PLAZA

THE 2025 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY EDIT

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Anine Bing

ANINE BING

Founder and Chief Creative Officer

Anine Bing is a Californian by way of her native Denmark–she and her husband Nico moved to Southern California and founded Anine Bing in 2012 out of their Silver Lake garage. Since then, the brand has become a global business with 25 bricks-and-mortar stores around the world. Bing is a vocal advocate for women and children, supporting various local organizations and launching a personal initiative called Mentor Moments, where she offers private mentoring sessions to women around the world. When we asked Bing what this year’s IWD theme means to her, she said, “As a company for women by women, our greatest source of inspiration is our strong, confident community. We strive to inspire and uplift women in an ongoing movement that needs to be supported by everyone, every day. I want our clothing to evoke feelings of confidence and empowerment, helping women feel like the best versions of themselves.”

LEVEL 1, Bloomingdale’s Wing
949.504.8585

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As a company for women by women, our greatest source of inspiration is our strong, confident community. We strive to inspire and uplift women in an ongoing movement that needs to be supported by everyone, every day…

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ANINE BING

Tory Burch

TORY BURCH

Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer

After celebrating the 20^th anniversary of her namesake brand in 2024, Tory Burch cemented her place among America’s most popular and successful designers. Her social impact has also been recognized with numerous awards, including Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in the World and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Sandra Taub Humanitarian Award. She is a founding advisory council member of the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Museum, and in 2009 she established the Tory Burch Foundation to provide women entrepreneurs in the United States with access to capital, education and community.

Burch told us, “When I started my company in 2004, supporting women wasn’t part of my business plan–it was my business plan. I knew that business could be a powerful vehicle for positive change, and through the Tory Burch Foundation we have supported thousands of women entrepreneurs with grants, low-interest loans, education, and a national network.” The foundation’s impact includes facilitating $100M+ in grants and loans to women-owned businesses and 760+ hours of pro-bono consulting provided by Tory Burch employees.

LEVEL 1, Carousel Court
714.689.0450

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**When I started my company in 2004, supporting women wasn’t part of my business plan–it was my business plan…**

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TORY BURCH

Sandra Choi

JIMMY CHOO

Creative Director

Born in the UK on the Isle of Wight and educated in Hong Kong, Sandra Choi has spent her entire career at the company founded by her uncle Jimmy Choo. As a fashion student at Central Saint Martens, she began working at his couture shoemaking atelier in London’s East End, and when the Jimmy Choo brand was born in 1996 she became its first creative director. Following her uncle and Tamara Mellon’s decision to sell their shares of the company, Choi was a natural to take the helm as sole creative director in 2013. Devoted customers and celebrities worldwide clamor for Jimmy Choo’s sexy and fashionable designs married with exceptional Italian craftsmanship. Choi told us how the company’s culture enables women to achieve professional and personal goals. “I chose to have a family on top of my ‘work family’ so that alone is already double work, lots to organize. However, with the evolution of our company and the teams over the years, we established a wonderful supportive culture where everybody is encouraged to go on achieving the brand, and we have a very strong female leadership,” she shared. Of the company’s social impact initiatives, she said, “We work with an amazing charity out of the UK, Women for Women International, under our Jimmy Choo Foundation, on the premise of empowering women through education.”

LEVEL 1, Between Jewel and Carousel Courts
714.327.0644

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… with the evolution of our company and the teams over the years, we established a wonderful supportive culture where everybody is encouraged to go on achieving the brand, and we have a very strong female leadership.

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SANDRA CHOI

Zendaya Coleman

LOUIS VUITTON

House Ambassador

Louis Vuitton named American singer, actress and activist Zendaya Coleman a House Ambassador in 2023, but the 28-year-old has been charting her own course since starting her career as a child model and backup dancer, then becoming a Disney Channel star. For the extensive re-edition of its popular collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Vuitton tapped Zendaya to star in the campaign, a series of exuberant and audacious images created by renowned Dutch photographers Inez and Vinoodh. The house called her “the perfect embodiment of the collaboration’s modern energy and creative spirit.” No less than a decade ago, Zendaya told the magazine Flare, “A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It’s equality, it’s fairness, and I think it’s a great thing to be a part of.” Since then, her quote has become nearly iconic, and for good reason–it’s a timeless truth.

LEVEL 2, Nordstrom Wing
714.662.6907

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A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It’s equality, it’s fairness, and I think it’s a great thing to be a part of.

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ZENDAYA IN FLARE

Mary Katrantzou

BVLGARI

Creative Director of Leather Goods & Accessories

When Bvlgari announced London-based Greek womenswear designer Mary Katrantzou as its first Creative Director of Leather Goods & Accessories last April, it brought two creative forces together full circle. The 140-year-old Italian jewelry house’s founder Sotirio Bulgari was raised and trained as a silversmith in Greece before going to Rome to establish his brand. Katrantzou shares the ideology and aesthetic of Bvlgari; her own fashion designs embrace color and timeless luxury. She first collaborated with the house in 2019 as part of her Spring/Summer 2020 couture show at the Temple of Poseidon, and again in 2021 for the “Serpenti though the eyes of” series. A power multitasker, Katrantzou will continue as creative director of her eponymous brand alongside her new role at Bvlgari, something that her male peers do more often that her fellow female designers, but she hopes to change the status quo. She told Harper’s Bazaar in October, “I think Bvlgari generally is a brand that is truly fearless and very bold, and that goes from the design side to the decisions they take. For example, in my role, taking somebody from fashion, in a brand that is not about fashion, with a designer that doesn’t come from accessories, is already…one that challenges the norm. And I’m all about challenging the norm.”

LEVEL 1, Jewel Court
714.751.7833

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… I’m all about challenging the norm.

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MARY KATRANTZOU IN HARPER’S BAZAAR

Stella McCartney

STELLA McCARTNEY

Founder and Creative Director

A leader in both fashion and social awareness, Stella McCartney keeps women’s rights and empowerment at the forefront of her namesake fashion house every day. “Stella McCartney is one of the few female-founded and led fashion houses, and I am proud to say women make up the majority of our team. A lot of the women here are working mothers or wives; they’re having to juggle a lot of things and I think that requires an incredible amount of strength and precision. They are powerful and I am constantly inspired and impressed by this,” she told us. Her creative drive continues to inspire her customers around the world; the collections are sold in 77 nations and ship to 100 countries via e-commerce. Said McCartney, “I think fashion and how we express ourselves through what we wear can also be incredibly empowering. I want my clothes to make women feel confident, like they can take on their day no matter how busy it may be or what it brings. I also want women to feel confident knowing every piece has been designed with a mindfulness for Mother Earth and a kindness towards the creatures we share her with.” The Summer 2025 campaign pictured here features Myha’la, Alex Consani, Eva Mendes and RAYE juxtaposed with doves and fantastical birds created with AI, inspiring others to see from different perspectives or a “bird’s eye view.” The slogan “Save What You Love” couldn’t be more timely.

LEVEL 2, Between Jewel and Carousel Courts
657.273.5727

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… I want my clothes to make women feel confident, like they can take on their day no matter how busy it may be or what it brings.

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STELLA MCCARTNEY

Nicky and Simone Zimmermann

ZIMMERMANN

Nicky: Co-Founder, Creative Director
Simone: Co-Founder, COO

The origin story of iconic Australian brand Zimmermann is well-known in fashion circles. Designer Nicky, the brand’s creative director, started out designing and sewing dresses in her parents’ Sydney garage to sell on weekends at the famed Paddington markets. When Simone, the brand’s chief operating officer, joined the business in 1991, the Zimmermann label was born. The sisters’ partnership is a model for women-led brands and has spawned a global business and loyal following for its sophisticated and feminine pieces, clever color combinations and original prints. Said Nicky, “This year, on International Women’s Day, we celebrate the incredible strength, creativity, and resilience of women across the world. At Zimmermann, we are proud to continue supporting and empowering women, whether through our designs, the amazing women we work with, or the communities we reach. Every woman has the power to shape the world, and together, we are creating something beautiful.”