"Stay Fearless" — How Rebecca Minkoff's New Project Is All About Empowering Women

By Hannah Weil McKinley

Published on 1/28/2019 at 2:37 PM

Courtesy of Rebecca Taylor

As a brand made for women and run primarily by women, Rebecca Minkoff has a message for her customers that goes beyond what to wear. She's made it her mission as a business woman and designer to support and advocate for female entrepreneurship, joining forces with Project YouDoYou, an industry-wide initiative launched by Mindshare North America, that aims to positively impact GenZ lives — to uplift young women, share their stories, and support their passions.

We were humbled to join Rebecca and her team, and share in their latest efforts to raise awareness around the project with the launch of a brand new tee. All of the proceeds from this custom, limited-edition PYDY t-shirt benefit PERIOD, a nonprofit founded by Nadya Okamoto when she was just 16.

Read on to learn more about Rebecca's passion project, her advice for young women, and how we can continue taking fearless action to support one another.="https:>

Courtesy of Rebecca Taylor

What responsibility do you feel as a designer-influencer to affect change among the young women shopping RM and consuming your content?
"As a brand made for many women by many women, we have the responsibility to speak out, support, advocate for equality and continue to tell the story of how camaraderie between women is changing the dominant cultural and business narrative around female entrepreneurship."

What advice would you hope to give to teens about getting involved?
"Set out goals for yourself, stay focused, persistent and diligent with any challenges and successes that come your way."

Courtesy of Rebecca Taylor

You've built such a community of role models with Female Founders Collective. What do you look for in the women who are part of the FFC?
"I want to celebrate inspiring females who have dedicated themselves to making a difference. Women who are leading fearless lives, which doesn't mean you don't have fear. It means that, as you look fear head on, shaking in your boots, you do what's scaring you anyways. And sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. But really, it's only losing if you're too scared to try, and it's only failing if you give up — otherwise, it's experience, That's why I started this group . . . to share and exchange ideas because, I wanted to create an atmosphere that would remind us, and provoke us, to stay fearless."

Tell us more about this collaboration? And where can we shop the PYDY Tee?
"We knew we wanted to be able to bring this project to life and decided to create a limited-edition PYDY t-shirt that is now available online at RebeccaMinkoff.com and Popsugar.com, with net proceeds going toward Okamoto's non-profit organization PERIOD."

Shop the Tee
Courtesy of Rebecca Taylor

Shop the Tee

Rebecca Minkoff You Do You Tee ($48)

Courtesy of Rebecca Taylor