By Harper Wayne
Boston University News Service
International Women’s Day (IWD) is March 8. In order to celebrate small women-owned brands, Holdette, a Boston-based clothing company, is hosting an IWD virtual pop-up.
The virtual pop-up will host 13 brands, including two digital products. Many of the businesses will offer discount codes exclusive to the pop-up.
The inspiration came from other brands who created pop-ups for women-owned businesses that Sarah Greisdorf, CEO and founder of Holdette, had been following as she built her company.
“I think, as individual brands, we are all so strong, but when we come together and get to support one another, there is so much strength in numbers,” Greisdorf said.
Holdette is a clothing company founded by Greisdorf. The brand is focused on supporting women from the minute they get dressed.
The company has officially launched their Leslie suit and has a Slack community called Back Pocket. Back Pocket is for young women entering the workforce who wish to gain mentorship, networking and attend events.
“We kind of wanted to celebrate [Leslie suit and Back Pocket] and our work but there’s also so many awesome women-led brands that we love to work with,” Greisdorf said. “We thought ‘what better way to highlight all the work our peers are doing than on a day to celebrate women in general.’”
One brand included in the pop-up, Better Than Belts, is owned by Tori Farley and her brother Tyler Farley.
Farley and Greisdorf are both members of a Slack community for female start-up founders. The community started around the beginning of the pandemic, when in-person networking was no longer an option.
“It has been a really nice and supportive community,” Farley said. “I think we are all trying to figure out ways that we can further support one another.”
Farley became involved [in the event] after Greisdorf shared information about the virtual pop-up with the Slack community.
Back Pocket member and photographer Katie Holtshouser reviewed the pop-up herself.
“I think one of the greatest parts [of the event] is [that] people are going to look at the website and see all these brands,” Holtshouser said.
Holtshouser believes in the power of the recommendation for small businesses and knows how important word of mouth is in order to gain clientele.
“Everyone says shop small, but shopping small can be difficult because you might not know where to go,” Holtshouser said. “I just hope people see this and also choose to support small women-owned businesses.”
Shoppers will be able to visit the virtual pop-up for the remainder of the week through the Holdette website.
