Women have left an indelible mark on all walks of life. Nowhere is that more true than Aventura Mall, where high-profile women-founded, women-led brands define looks across Miami and beyond.
This March, we are recognizing Women’s History Month by celebrating some of the influential women who were integral in launching some of the iconic brands that you can find here at Aventura Mall.
Born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño in Caracas, Venezuela, Carolina Herrera has become a household name after founding her eponymous clothing house and dressing First Ladies including Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
Transitioning from the world of publicity to design, Herrera was urged by legendary Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland to create her own clothing line. Her first collection, debuting at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Club, was released to widespread acclaim, and the rest was history.
The renowned fashion house synonymous with elegance and empowerment, has consistently marked International Women’s Day with meaningful partnerships that resonate beyond the runway including Kode With Klossy, teaching coding skills to over 12,000 young women since 2016, and launched in 2023, the Carolina Herrera FIT Scholarship that supports four years of study for qualifying female students.
The Carolina Herrera brand is best encapsulated in its founder’s own words: “I have a responsibility to the woman of today – to make her feel confident, modern and above all else beautiful.”
Tory Burch, the entrepreneur and fashion icon embarked on her journey to redefine luxury fashion with the founding of her eponymous brand, Tory Burch, in 2004. As a woman in a predominantly male-dominated industry, Burch’s ascent to success was marked by her determination, creativity, and unwavering commitment to empowering women.
Breaking barriers with her distinctive designs that blend timeless elegance with modern sensibilities, Burch quickly captured the hearts of women worldwide. Beyond revolutionizing the fashion landscape, Burch is deeply passionate about women’s empowerment, a cause intricately woven into the fabric of her brand’s ethos.
Through the Tory Burch Foundation, she champions female entrepreneurs, providing them with access to capital, education, and mentorship to realize their business aspirations. Burch’s philanthropic efforts extend beyond economic empowerment; she actively supports initiatives that promote women’s education, health, and leadership, recognizing the pivotal role women play in shaping communities and driving positive change globally. With her brand and philanthropy intertwined, Tory Burch continues to inspire and uplift women, leaving an indelible mark on both the fashion industry and the pursuit of gender equality.
If you ask her, Valérie Messika will tell you she was predestined to work with diamonds. From her earliest childhood, she listened to the fascinating stories told by her father André Messika. As a key player in the international diamond trade for 40 years, Andre took young Valérie her along with him on his travels around the world, seeking out exceptional gems. It’s no wonder Valérie inherited André’s passion.
She decided to devote herself the diamond world while blazing trails all her own. For Valérie, every diamond contains a new idea, design, or concept. While forms, patterns, and techniques reign supreme, they are ultimately a means to highlight the unique character of each diamond, its quality, size, and brilliance.
Within its jewelry as well its commitments, Messika places the empowerment of women at the heart of its mission. Driven by a desire for fashionable jewelry and uninhibited diamonds, Valérie Messika created her Jewelry Maison in 2005. She has transformed this meaningful and symbolic accessory into an ultra-desirable and disruptive piece, which women buy for themselves and brings them extra reassurance. As a tribute to women and their diversity, Messika celebrates the image of a free and independent woman. Through her foundation, Valérie Messika hopes to do everything in her power to help create a more tolerant and inclusive society that is more open to the world. As a mother of two young daughters, she is keen to show them the limitless possibilities for women.
Charlotte Tilbury began her career with a makeup brush in her hand, assisting legendary artist Mary Greenwell who served as her mentor. In 2012, Tilbury took what she learned online, launching the wildly popular BERTIE IRL YouTube channel as well as the blog Barry’s Beauty Secrets.
Tilbury launched her eponymous beauty brand in 2013, leveraging her popularity online to rapid brick-and-mortar growth. Her second store in the United States will open at Aventura Mall this Summer.
It has been their core belief from the very start, that if you feel and look your most confident self, you can achieve anything. Charlotte Tilbury supports several incredible charities whose work reflects the mission to help women feel confident about themselves and help them conquer their world. One of these organizations is Women for Women International, who has helped women survivors of war rebuild their lives for over 30-years. In Charlotte’s role as their Global Ambassador, she has pledged £1m to support over 3,000 women – and in 2022 they supported their Conflict Response Fund helping women affected by the war in Ukraine and the earthquake in Syria which impacted women already devastated by a decade of war.
Tilbury always reminds her teams to “dare to dream it, dare to believe it, dare to do it”, because she wants to empower them to have the confidence to take risks and make their own dreams come true.
Model, influencer, blogger, and now designer, Anine Bing is the ultimate multi-hyphenate who’s still just getting started.
Bing, a native of Denmark who grew up in Sweden before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 21, started working in the fashion industry during her teenage years as a model.
Bing’s influencer status served as all the marketing she would need, building brand awareness when she debuted her first collection — two pairs of denim, a white T-shirt and a black leather jacket — from her Silver Lake home in 2012.
Bing is passionate about Women’s Empowerment and supports various different initiatives and organizations dedicated to empowering and educating women and children. Last year, she continued their long term partnership with Dress for Success, proudly donating one hour of every Anine Bing employee’s pay to the Your Hour, Her Power® campaign, supporting economic independence for women worldwide. Anine also launched a personal initiative called Mentor Moments where she continues to give back by offering private mentorship sessions to women around the globe.
Yael Aflalo, founder of Reformation, is a California native and innovative entrepreneur whose reputation has evolved to become a leader in the sustainable fashion revolution that is embodied in her brand’s looks and operations.
Yael started as a designer before launching her first clothing line, Ya-Ya, in 1999. Yael noticed just how wasteful the fashion industry had become – for example, overprinting look-books just to toss 80 percent of them into landfills. She blanched at the waste made by fast fashion’s yards of leftover fabric.
This inspired her to work firsthand with factories overseas, taking note of the destructive impact that production abroad has on the environment. It was then that Yael realized it was time to break the cycle.
She set out to create a brand where sustainable fashion didn’t mean compromising style. Yael continues her dedication to transforming current harmful retail practices by leading a sustainable revolution in the fashion industry and is paving the path for how the fashion industry defines green.
