Ba&sh, the Paris-based womenswear firm, is continuing its charitable endeavor Power Blazer, a global initiative aimed at female empowerment.
Power Blazer identifies inspirational female founders, entrepreneurs and activists and supports their company, organization or initiative at a global level by donating a dedicated amount to recognize the partnership and the Power Blazer campaign. The campaign runs through February 2024.
“For this third edition, Ba&sh has opted to back four impactful female-led projects. We’re putting the spotlight on the blazer — an item often worn when female entrepreneurs pitch their projects to investors. It’s also a wardrobe staple within the business world. Supporting women in business is the very foundation of our success — our board and our organization are 75 percent and 85 percent female, respectively,” said Pierre-Arnaud Grenade, chief executive officer of Ba&sh.
The beneficiaries of this edition present a wide range of projects that have an impact in a different fields. From using digital technology to improve mental health in business and enhancing patient-doctor relationships, to providing digital education for young people and supporting women who experience sexual assault, Ba&sh is funding projects led by businesswomen who seek to change the world.
To narrow candidates down to the finalists, each region sends nominations, which are narrowed down by the company’s global team. This year, the team evaluated about 20 women.
The four women chosen for the Power Blazer initiative are: Delphine Groll from France, who cofounded the health tech company Nabla in 2019, aiming to halve the amount of time health care professionals spend on nonmedical tasks, allowing them to focus on their patients during appointments; Julia Neel Biz from France, who cofounded Teale in 2021 as a one-stop mental health platform aimed at employees; Verena Pausder of Germany, who set up the Digital Bildung für Alle association, which aims to help integrate young people in difficulty through digital education in a German system where younger pupils are directed toward short-term or long-term study at a very early stage, who also co-runs the Berlin women’s football club, FC Victoria, and Amanda Nguyen of the U.S., who created the organization Rise in 2014, following her own experience with sexual assault, and has helped millions of people through passing 80 laws. She drafted the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act, which passed unanimously, and founded the Stop Asian Hate movement. Nguyen, who has also worked for the White House and NASA, is applying to become an astronaut.
The price of the blazer is $325 euros, or $355, and it’s available in Ba&sh’s 320 stores worldwide, including department stores and affiliates and on ba-sh.com.
“We know the difficulties by female entrepreneurs. At a time when only 2 percent of annual investment goes toward female-founded businesses, Ba&sh is opting to set an example and give these companies confidence,” said Sharon Krief, cofounder of Ba&sh.
“Choosing an iconic piece like the blazer to give money back to women is confirmation that yes, we can do it too. We’ve been guided by a particular idea of female solidarity since we started. Ba&sh is a brand designed for and by women,” added Barbara Boccara, cofounder of Ba&sh.
Ba&sh was founded in 2003, named as a contraction of the cofounders’ first names, with the support of Dan Arrouas and Vog Group. In 2015, L Catterton and Groupe Arnault acquired an entity interest. Grenade, the brand’s CEO, joined the team during the L Catterton investment.
In 2022, the label generated 310 million euros in revenue, up 22 percent from the prior year. In May 2022, Ba&sh attracted investment from French firm HLD alongside existing shareholders and the executive team, to pursue ambitious growth plans. The label is represented in more than 70 countries.
