She Clothing Co
Photography by Mariah Hamilton

Meet the Next Generation of Feminist Entrepreneurs

How four Toronto teens started their own charitable clothing line

In the lead-up to International Women’s Day on March 8, The Kit is exploring power: how to get it, how to use it, how to recognize when it’s being taken away from you—and how to fight back. Every day this week, we’ll publish a new story exploring power through the lens of fashion and beauty. Today: A conversation with four high-schoolers with a seriously impressive extra-curricular. 

As someone who frequently interviews celebrities (actresses, models, the occasional It girl), as part of my job, I can’t recall the last time a conversation with someone famous lingered in my mind for days after it was over, taking up residence in my brain like a chatty houseguest. But that’s exactly what happened after I met the four young women behind She Clothing Co.: Lara Ground, Jordan Murrell, Alara Karahan and Laura David. Though they aren’t famous (at least, not yet) the four Toronto Grade 12 students are doing something worth talking about. After watching the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, the Havergal College students set out to launch their own clothing line to raise money for local community groups.

Between Model U.N. meetings and volleyball tournaments, the four friends created their own business. Lara designed the logo, a take on the Venus symbol with cat ears. Laura spent months finding a supplier to manufacture the line of sweatshirts and tees, finally settling on one in Montreal. Jordan handled finances, Alara took on social media. After paying their parents back for the startup costs, She Clothing Co. donated two $2,000 scholarships to Toronto charity Girls E-Mentorship (GEM) and Jean Augustine’s STEM Centre in Etobicoke.

“Our motto is ‘helping girls help the world,’” says Alara. It’s a simple, pure statement of intent—as uncynical and unsullied as the group’s love of Billie Eilish. The quartet wears the values of modern feminism—inclusion, equality and camaraderie—as proudly as their pink, blue and white branded tees. Once they graduate and move on to different universities, they hope to pass the running of She Clothing Co. over to the next generation of Havergal students, like an altruistic baton. Here’s our conversation, I hope it stays with you, too.

On Feminism


Laura
: “Growing up my mom was a stay-at-home mom, and I always thought that the feminist movement meant that you had to be a powerful CEO. But then I realized that you can be a feminist doing feminine things. It’s all about choice and autonomy.”

Jordan: “It’s a journey for yourself and not thinking about how it’s going to look to other people. It’s also about supporting other women’s journeys.”

Alara: “At school, we noticed that some people have a negative idea of feminism. What we’re hoping to do with our company is to make it as inclusive and intersectional as possible.”

Laura: “I think there’s a lot more love in the world than there used to be. We need love right now because so many horrible things are happening. I think a lot of the work is changing the language around feminism because language is such a powerful thing. The world needs some rebranding, and feminism is helping us do that.”

On Community


Alara
: “When we choose the charities, we always want to focus on young women and making sure that girls facing socio-economic barriers are getting a fair chance.”

Laura: “A big part of this is growing with the organizations and not just throwing money at them. We get to meet the girls we give the scholarships to.”

Jordan: “People react really positively when they see our clothes. The best part is that we get to share the story behind it.”

Lara: “We wear uniforms at school, but on ‘dress down’ days a lot of people come in wearing our clothing. I walked into a coffee shop once and a barista was actually wearing our navy sweater.”

On Getting it Done

Lara: “I remember this one fundraiser and we were all, ‘Oh my God we have three tests tomorrow.’ We’re still high-school students doing all of this. But having a few years of experience under our belts, it becomes a little more natural. We sell merch, take in orders, go to the post office. Getting it off the ground was a lot harder.”

Laura: “I think it took three months to find a manufacturer that was cost effective and accessible to us. It’s a lot harder than you think.”

On Their Idols


All
: “Emma Watson, Yara Shahidi, Michelle Obama. AOC!”

Laura: “I think that we overlook our teachers. They have been really huge role models and have opened my eyes to the world of politics and the issues that we face. My American history teacher is like my school mom. She sent me a list of feminist books to read. She’s so cool.”

 

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