Shifting to more ethical and intelligent ways of working is the zeitgeist of fashion in 2019. Slowly but surely, more brands are placing an emphasis on environmental consciousness – and, as ardent supporters of sustainable efforts, we’re celebrating the brands doing just that. Each week, we’ll be meeting the brands fashioning beautiful goods with the greater good in mind.


Foregrounded by empathy, what underpins Duchess of Cambridge-endorsed brand Beulah London is a commitment to humanitarian justice. Their outreach changes the lives of vulnerable women afflicted by sex-trafficking in India, as well as working to condemn and eradicate modern-day slavery in the fashion world. We talked to co-founders Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan to discover how they’re breaking the poverty cycle bare-handed. 

Beulah is the Hebrew for “marriage”; a fitting moniker as the brand weds philanthropy with feminine elegance. We delved into the former, starting with the founders’ origin story for their charitable endeavours. In 2010 they worked in an aftercare home in Dehli for women who had been trafficked into the sex trade, to teach them basic sewing skills. “It was there we witnessed the power of employment to transform lives,” they say. This philosophy now forms their ‘Beulah Butterfly Effect’ and hallmarks the brand’s ethos, in which actions established by two women can have huge-scale impact on those most vulnerable. 



The Freedom Designs collection is a space we created to specifically champion the craft and stories of the incredible women we work with”. Each item in this specially-curated collection is directly produced by formerly trafficked women, and the programme was set up specifically to provide employment for them. “It’s providing sustainable employment, educating her children and giving hope for her future”. The brand pays homage to these women, as traditional Indian styles are championed: intricate beaded embellishments and vibrant patterns in sunset-inspired brick-red and blush-pink hues. They are showing how fashion doesn’t have to be an industry dominated by forced labour; instead it can be a force for positive, restorative and empowering impact.

Natasha and Lavinia also discussed their founding of the Beulah Trust, a charity initiative working alongside the UN and Anti-Slavery International, in which 10% of all Beulah’s profits go towards aiding the fight to eradicate modern-day slavery and sex-trafficking. This is conceived through investing in the Freedom Design collection (in 2017, they provided 1030 days of sustainable employment for vulnerable women in India), or giving grants that pay for skill courses, to help these women find work, generate an income, and live a self-sufficient life, free from abuse.'' Furthermore, they offer employability training for victims of human trafficking in their London head-office giving them the experience, and all-important reference, to aid them on the path to economic independence.



“For each beautiful garment created, there is an equally beautiful change happening to the woman who made it”. Beulah’s Love Heart range exemplifies this, as their vibrant, distinguishable heart-motif symbolises how, as the founders say, “each piece is created with love” at every level of the supply-chain from silk printing and weaving to delicate hand-embroidery. We revere their invariable dedication to meaningful employment for trafficked and vulnerable woman, and while the luxury world appreciates its unparalleled craftsmanship, Natasha and Lavinia are reimagining luxury as a humanitarian responsibility, proclaiming that it “should never be a luxury”.

See Beulah London's full collection here.


More Brands To Believe In: 

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 Bangladeshi bag company Lidia May

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Bespoke London-based label Eponine

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Ecologically-minded jeweller Cornelia Webb