Five Female-led brands to celebrate this International Women’s Day

Bond Street is home to many brands led by women, from creative directors to CEOs, and this International Women's Day we want to celebrate some of the inspirational women who are at the helm of Bond Street’s iconic fashion houses.

Long time muse for many fashion houses such as Roberto Cavalli, in 2008 Victoria Beckham made the transition from inspiration to designer and launched her own fashion line. Victoria Beckham is heavily inspired by her own style and tastes, she has often said she makes clothes for women who want to feel like the best version of themselves.

The move from muse to designer was a huge success for Beckham, with accolades such as the British Fashion Council’s Designer Brand of the Year and an OBE in 2017 for services to the fashion industry.

Stella McCartney began her eponymous brand in 2001, with a focus on conscious fashion which has become one of her trademarks. Inspired from a young age by fashion and her life long vegetarianism, McCartney brings her animal activism into her designs, using sustainable materials and being at the forefront of future fashion and championing more conscious production. .

McCartney was awarded a CBE by King Charles III for her services to fashion and sustainability. McCartney, to this day, has stayed consistent to the global brand she built in 2001 through her commitment to the welfare of animals and the planet.

Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski is the first woman to serve as Hermès’ womenswear director in decades. She became the Artistic Director of Womenswear in 2014, with her first collection launching AW15, which Vogue described as “a respectful journey around the house, with enough wayward verve to suggest the relationship will be a happy one”.

Since 2014, Vanhée-Cybulski vision has married Hermès’ equestrian roots with pops of modernity and flair. Vanhée-Cybulski’s background in fine art means her focus is on craftsmanship and allowing the products to speak for themselves, portraying this iconic fashion house’s legacy and excellence.

Sarah Burton, a long time friend and collaborator of Lee Alexander McQueen is the second creative director for British fashion brand Alexander McQueen. With an impressive rise to the top, Sarah Burton began working at McQueen as a student apprentice, in four years she became the head of womenswear and following the untimely death of Lee McQueen she took over as the brand’s creative director in 2010.

One of her most notable designs was Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, which Burton said was the “experience of a lifetime” to design. In the same year Burton won the British Fashion Council’s Designer of the Year, 2011.

Miuccia Prada took over as co-CEO of Prada in 1978 and continued in this role till 2022. With a passion for art and design Miuccia is currently the head designer of Prada. Her first successful bag design was conceived in 1985, a line of woven nylon bags called the Velva, iterations of which are still sold today.

In 1992 Miuccia launched a the hugely successful subsidiary of Prada: Miu Miu, a womenswear brand inspired by her own personal style and named after her own nickname ‘Miu Miu’. Today both Prada and Miu Miu are icons in their own way.