Laura: Celebrating Visionaries This International Women's Day

seven visionaries for

international women's day

As spring approaches and we celebrate International Women's Day, the team at eugenie is reflecting on the women who have shaped us into strong, creative, empowered individuals, united by our commitment to a more sustainable world. Read how these visionary voices have shaped our team's perspective on our identities and our world below.

Toni Morrison

"Toni Morrison was an American Novelist and the first Black woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987. Her storytelling chronicles the Black American experience. Her prose is like a painting and her stories are timeless. I am also so deeply appreciative of how she centered the Black experience in her work and didn't write toward the white gaze. There were books for that and she was content that hers weren't. Both she and her work were the epitome of unapologetic, fearless of taking space and confident enough to say, frankly, 'I'm very good at what I do.'"

"I tell my students, when you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game." - Toni Morrison

Cher

"She's someone that has always been ahead of her time and proves that you can literally do whatever you want with your life!"

Ana Mendieta

"As a Cuban-American artist active during the 1970s and 80s, Ana Mendieta created a powerful body of work known as the Silueta Series. In contrast to many of her male contemporaries, Mendieta was deeply focused on exploring the roots of her identity, both as a person and as a woman, through the raw, visceral material of the earth. She traversed wild landscapes, including her native Cuba, in search of a way to re-enter what she felt was the 'womb of nature' from which humanity had been 'cast out.' Her work feels both timeless and haunting, continually reminding me to seek out the blurry boundaries between self and world that lie beneath the surface of our constructed realities."

Octavia Butler

"Octavia Butler's speculative fiction doesn't just reimagine the future—it reshapes the way I see the present. As a Black woman writing in a genre dominated by white men, Butler defied convention, blending science fiction with history, sociology, and a deep understanding of human nature. Through her characters, she exposes the fragility of civilization and the necessity of change, forcing me to question how I navigate an uncertain world. Butler's writing reminds me that stories are more than escapism—they are tools for understanding, for preparing, and for imagining something better."

Cipe Pineles

"Cipe Pineles was a visionary who not only revolutionized editorial design but also carved a path for women in a field that largely excluded them. As the first female art director of major magazines, including Glamour, Seventeen and Charm, she proved that creative leadership wasn't just for men.

She was also the first woman inducted into the Art Directors Club, paving the way for future generations of female designers. More than aesthetics, she saw design as a tool for storytelling and cultural change. As a woman in the creative industry, I look to Cipe as a reminder that our voices belong at the table and that pushing boundaries isn't just important, it's necessary."

Mary Oliver

"I was introduced to Mary Oliver's work posthumously, which is unfortunate because I would have liked to meet her. Over the years, I have started to take more note of the natural world, spending time in nature and relishing in the beauty of observation. Mary Oliver's work, particularly in American Primitive, illuminates how intertwined we are with our surroundings, cultivating empathy for all living things, both plant and animal. Her poems' darkness ground her work in reality while bringing brevity and lightness through her appreciation for nature's gentle reminders that change is imminent and life carries on."

Grace Coddington

"By far, one of the women who has had an indelible mark on my life as a creative would be Grace Coddington. Her uncanny ability to create whimsical yet deeply thoughtful and emotionally rich narratives through fashion has taught me that storytelling isn't just about words—it's about creating an atmosphere, evoking a mood, and transporting people into an inspired new world through composition, texture, and detail. Her work reminds me that beauty isn't static; it's a dynamic conversation between objects, space, and human emotion."

At eugenie, we're proud to support a sustainable future through conscious design, curating independent, primarily women-owned labels that reduce their impact on both people and the planet. We believe IWD is a celebration of communal care, interconnection, and collective strength—recognizing how our growth is intertwined in all its forms.