Presenting The Incredible Women Making Their Mark For SS23
In NET-A-PORTER’s SS23 campaign, we bring together four inspiring women whose impact encapsulates the importance of making your mark. Below, KARA KIA and KATIE BERRINGTON discover the roots of their power and confidence, the mantras they live by, and where they find the most joy
SIMRAN RANDHAWA
“Showing up for myself every day” is central to Simran Randhawa’s calm confidence. “That means doing the rituals and routines that make me feel good – going to the gym, eating healthy, doing my prayer, meditation, journaling and weekly therapy. To show up for yourself means that you are valuing yourself, and when you value yourself, that’s where true confidence derives from.”
“My style is constantly evolving… Sometimes, I want to channel the rock girl and wear Rick Owens; other times, I want to be in Loewe, Paris Texas and The Attico
”Simran Randhawa
A passionate storyteller, speaker and mentor, with community-building front of mind, Randhawa continuously explores how food and fashion act as a medium for her own self-discovery. “My style is constantly evolving,” she says. “I grew up listening to My Chemical Romance, All American Rejects, Blink 182, and that’s influenced my personality. Sometimes, I want to channel the rock girl and wear Rick Owens; other times, I want to be in Loewe, Paris Texas and The Attico.”
While style is a way for her to express her identity, food has ancestral importance to Randhawa. “A lot of my childhood memories are tied to food. I remember peeling garlic for my grandmother at her restaurant in Malaysia, sitting on the counter and watching her cook. Food is such a gateway to learning about people and understanding them so much better. Even understanding the histories of how people’s food came to be is understanding a culture and a people.”
Whenever the time comes for Randhawa to call for strength, she thinks of the women who came before her. “I have so many opportunities that even my mother couldn’t dream of,” she says. “I think of my nanny, who was illiterate – the youngest and only girl after five boys. She would drive around Malaysia reading signs and she didn’t even know what was written on them. To me, that’s so amazing, that she was able to build this life. So, I think there has been a lot of sacrifice to afford me the life I have.”
“When you’re wearing clothes that make you feel good, and you know you look good, it gives you an inner strength
”Francesca Hayward
FRANCESCA HAYWARD
Dancing is the space in Francesca Hayward’s life where she finds an equilibrium of joy, peace and freedom. “I honestly wonder what my life would have been without dance,” she says. “For me, it’s almost like a meditation. You get lost in another world for a bit. I know it’s very much a body thing, but I don’t know what my mind would have done without it.”
As a principal dancer who has risen through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of London’s Royal Ballet, Hayward enjoys the fantasy that comes with exploring outside of her sartorial comfort zone – both on stage and off. “Because of my job, I get to wear all kinds of amazing things that I would never normally wear, and I love that.”
Quite simply, “a really good outfit” makes her feel powerful, she says. “When you’re wearing clothes that make you feel good, and you know you look good, it gives you an inner strength.” She names the late Queen Elizabeth II as someone whose strength she admired. “She didn’t get to choose the life she led,” says Hayward, “but she did it with strength and grace.”
Looking ahead as the year unfolds, Hayward is determined to ask herself more often, “Am I doing that for me? Am I getting something positive or am I gaining something from that? Not in a selfish way, but am I doing that for someone else, to please them, or am I doing it because I want to?”
MIA REGAN
An unmissable face on the latest circuit of shows and front rows, Mia Regan has established herself as the Gen-Z multi-hyphenate creator and rising model to follow now, with self-expression and a love of art at the heart of what she does.
Creativity and confidence are key components of her off-beat personal style, which has captivated the attention of the fashion industry. “You can wear anything as long as you’ve got confidence in it,” is her style mantra.
“Just be yourself and do what you want to do… hiking and being in the sea make me very, very happy
”Mia Regan
Leaning in to the idea that everything in life should be a balance, she will be juggling a demanding schedule in the season ahead with the things that bring her the most bliss and invigoration: getting out into nature – “hiking and being in the sea make me very, very happy” – and going to festivals with friends.
With her playful, escapist platform making her a muse for brands and followers alike, the most influential figure in Regan’s own life is her Dutch grandma. “There are a lot of challenges she’s overcome,” she shares. “She immigrated from Holland when she was a very young girl and didn't speak English. She’s very strong, has so much energy and she brings everyone joy.” As for her greatest fashion inspiration, Regan cites the legendary late designer Vivienne Westwood. “She was iconic and has always been a role model for me,” she says. “Her dedication to championing sustainability was beyond inspiring, and [her work] always just smashed it.”
Maintaining authenticity is Regan’s biggest aim when it comes to digital creation. “I feel like it’s really important to interact with [your audience] in that way… Just be yourself and do what you want to do,” says the 20-year-old, who loves to use her platform to champion fellow young creatives. “[Social media] can be a negative place for some people, [so] the way you navigate it and staying authentic is really important.”
“In this day and age, where things are so turbulent, I appreciate the simple moments in life so much more – to laugh with a friend, to be held by the person you love
”Naomi Shimada
NAOMI SHIMADA
Author of Mixed Feelings and writer of the Substack Tender Contributions, Naomi Shimada has recently qualified to be a Kundalini yoga teacher. “Our guiding foundational mantra in the sacred language of the Sikhs is ‘Sat Nam’, which translates to ‘truth is my name’, and we repeat it over and over,” she says. “It’s been such a big part of my life that helps me to become more aligned with my truth. It’s a mantra that reminds me to stop seeking outwards and that everything we already need is inside us.”
“We have so many different nerve endings in our mouth, so sound healing and how we pronounce things are forms of vibratory frequency. When we say certain words, they have different energetic charges to them. When we speak mantras out loud through our tongue, they hit different parts of our mouth, and it’s not just the sounds but the actual words that have significance.”
Shimada makes a conscious choice every day to acknowledge the abundance that’s inherent to being the most authentic version of yourself. When she is truly present is when she feels the most joyful. “In this day and age, where things are so turbulent, I appreciate the simple moments in life so much more – to laugh with a friend, to be held by the person you love. When you connect from a real place, your souls speak to each other and that’s the purest form of joy.”
“I have so many incredible women who inspire me,” she says. “Nina Simone had the courage and bravery to turn truth into an art form and a language in the face of so much adversity and isolation. We owe a lot to Black and Indigenous women who have been telling us this whole time about oppression and the exploitation of the earth and of each other – and this is the time to listen and change our own behaviors.”
The people featured in this story are not associated with NET-A-PORTER and do not endorse it or the products shown