10 woman-owned travel brands we can't get enough of
In honor of Women’s History Month, we want to highlight other awesome woman-owned travel brands that we love! Each of these incredible businesses plays a role in our travels and focuses on making sustainable products that are good for the world we love to explore so much.
1. Dagne Dover
New Yorkers Jessy Dover, Deepa Gandhi and Melissa Mash started the ultra-successful bag company Dagne Dover in 2013. As women living in the city, the entrepreneurs sought to create reliable, eco-friendly and cute bags for working women to use throughout the day. Eventually, the brand grew and now Dagne Dover makes bags for almost every occasion, and we have our eye on one of their fanny packs when it comes back in stock. They focus on minimizing waste, never using chemicals and making bags that actually fit the needs of people on-the-go!
2. S’well
These bottles are the perfect travel accessory to make you feel good about your environmental footprint as you explore the world. Sarah Kauss started S’well in 2010 with the goal of eliminating the need for single-use plastic bottles by creating sustainable, stylish and reusable water bottles. Along offering a wide variety of reusable bottles, containers and accessories, S’well has donated $1.4 million dollars since 2017 to help provide clean and safe water to the world’s most vulnerable communities in partnership with UNICEF.
3. Away
Jen Rubio was getting ready to board her plane when her carry-on suitcase completely fell apart, launching her belongings all over the airport floor. Frustrated by this, Rubio and her former co-worker Stephanie Korey decided to found Away in 2015. The company focuses on making incredibly cute and super durable hard-shell luggage for a worry-free travel experience, and Emilie is obsessed with hers.
4. PAT McGRATH LABS
Visionary Pat McGrath has been at the forefront of high-fashion and makeup for decades and has even been called “the most influential makeup artist in the world” by fashion legend Anna Wintour. She founded PAT McGRATH LABS in 2016 after creating products through the years for Gucci, CoverGirl, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana. The brand has a little bit of everything for everyone and is cruelty-free! Her adorable mini lipsticks are an essential part of our travel makeup kits-gorgeous and compact for packing purposes!
5. Rent the Runway
This is an awesome way to expand your wardrobe on a trip for a special occasion or night out. Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss were astounded at the sky-high price tag on couture fashion, so they founded Rent the Runway to make designer brands more accessible. You can rent designer clothing, dresses and accessories so you don’t have to break the bank to wear high fashion.
6. Stasher
Kat Nouri decided to create Stasher, a company making reusable, self-sealing platinum silicone bags, when she was packing a lunch for her children and realized the sheer amount of single-use plastic waste that JUST her family was going through in a day. Since its inception in 2015, Stasher has sold millions of reusable bags, saving billions of single use bags from entering the ocean and/or landfills. We love using the bags for storing healthy snacks for the plane and Erika uses these to pack her vitamins as well. They’re easy to use, convenient and secure (read: no spills)!
7. SkinnyDipped
This is another Seattle-based business, led by mother-daughter duo Breezy and Val Griffith, along with friends Lizzie Resta and Chrissy Haller. SkinnyDipped has such an inspiring story, and we instantly fell in love with their delicious chocolate-covered almonds that we love to stow in our carry-on for guilt-free snacking.
8. ADAY
Creating sustainable, engineer-optimized and simply adorable clothing was the goal of besties Nina Faulhaber and Meg He when they created ADAY. The clothing pieces from this brand are basic, comfy staples (without actually being basic at all), so their pieces are versatile enough to keep your wardrobe flexible on your travels. Specifically, the Turn It Up Pant is the best thing for ladies who love to be comfortable AND stylish when they travel. So cute!
9. Baggu
At a mere 24(!) years old, Emily Sugihara founded Baggu to create cute, reusable bags that were good for the environment. Baggu’s bags are made of light-weight nylon with bright and colorful designs that hold 2-3 times more than a typical grocery bag. Cute, ethically made and sustainable, what more could we want?! It’s the perfect travel buddy to have at your ready for a trip to the market or carrying souvenirs, without sacrificing style!
10. Minted
Mariam Naficy’s passion for finding bold, undiscovered artists inspired her to create Minted. Artists from around the world submit designs, people vote on them and the winners are chosen to be made and sold. This is one of our go-to’s to create personalized keepsakes of our travels and gifts for friends and family. Just look at this beautiful collage!
We’ll be celebrating inspiring women in business and travel all month long for Women’s History Month, as this is an extra-special month for us as woman business owners ourselves! What are some of your favorite woman-owned businesses?