Shop for a Good Cause with the Dominique Drakeford x IKKIVI Collab

This December, Dominique Drakeford and IKKIVI (interview here) have collaborated to curate a dreamy capsule collection from IKKIVI’s online store of 45+ one-of-a-kind sustainable and ethical independent designers from India. Dominique’s unique shop featured on IKKIVI’s website is a beautiful selection of 50 pieces from alive prints and texture to modest and minimal silhouettes. DOMINIQUE’S SHOP will be open ALL DECEMBER and a portion of the proceeds will support Custom Collaborative - a Harlem-based not for profit that serves women from low-income and immigrant communities by training and supporting their development in the fashion industry.

Keep reading to learn more about what to expect and what the brand is all about!

WHO IS IKKIVI?

IKKIVI’s Nivi Murthy

For a little bit of background, IKKIVI, founded by Nivi Murthy, is a size-inclusive sustainable platform supporting 45+ brands run by all-women teams in India. Nivi started IKKIVI in 2015 as a space to feature contemporary ethical fashion, promote mindful consumption, and support young designer brands from India. In effort to do so, IKKIVI works closely with the artisans to revive culture while maintaining a minimal negative impact on the environment in making each garment. Since 2021, IKKIVI has ensured that all the designers on their platform are size inclusive (2XS to 5XL), ensuring there are sizes beyond this as well. In addition to clothing, the platform also features sustainable home decor and accessories. Along with these tenets, the brand also emphasizes the importance of local craftsmanship, production, and ethical labor. This means that the completely melanin-based teams are embracing unique fabrics, traditional embroidery techniques, and sustainable dyeing methods that are likely not featured in your closet.

For example, the Kewo Blouse featured on their page is made completely from Orange peel. You can read more about the values and production of each brand at the bottom of each garment page as well, ensuring that your dream top also matches your ethos. Best of all, since the brand supports so many amazing brands, there are a variety of styles, colors, and patterns to choose from that you can actually feel good about buying. Don’t know where to start? Step into Dominique’s capsule this Saturday to see her favorite pieces, sponsored by her flair for uniqueness, color, and heritage. 

Dominique Drakeford in IKKIVI

WHO IS DOMINIQUE?

Dominique Drakeford is a thought-leader and entrepreneur in the fashion system and agriculture field who seeks to educate and disrupt un-sustainable systems while simultaneously celebrating Blackness. Through her work, Dominique embodies sustainability and transformative justice. With a Master’s degree from NYU in sustainable entrepreneurship and fashion, Dominique has worked on and with numerous brands to free fashion from its colonial underpinnings. Ultimately, fashion should be a healing relationship with the earth and through her methods, we may achieve closer ties to it and more equitable conditions for those involved in the fashion network.

Although there is much work to be done in the field, Dominique still makes space to realize the joy that fashion brings to many- a key part in understanding how to make the fashion system more just. Showcased in her bright yellows and motifs of African and global melanin culture, Dominique’s style is a representation of what global fashion can be; a representation of designs from the “global south” that are usually cast aside, environmentally sustainable production methods, and equitable labor practices. All of this, coupled with her knack for vibrance and earthiness makes her collection the perfect way to taste-test what IKKIVI has to offer through the eyes of Dominique. 

WHAT TO EXPECT:

This inspired collab between two sustainability and inclusivity powerhouses is going to roll out Saturday, December 3rd and last for a month so keep your eyes peeled for updates, content, and special deals! 

Here’s a sneak peak at what to expect from Dominique’s picks:

Dominique’s Shop on IKIVVI