By Meg Krugel
On International Women’s Day in 2017, entrepreneur Meena Harris took a leap of faith by putting a t-shirt boldly emblazoned with the words “Phenomenal Woman” on the market. She hoped to sell a couple hundred shirts through the month of March 2017 and planned to donate proceeds to support women’s organizations around the country as a way to counter the rhetoric and policies of a newly elected President who didn’t align with her values as a woman of color and new mother. On launch day, Harris’ startup sold 2,500 Phenomenal Woman shirts; the campaign was extended for three months and made 10,000 sales during that time. It was clear that there were a lot of Phenomenal Women in America who wanted in on the movement Harris had started… who saw themselves in the mission of a small lifestyle brand that was proudly – overtly, even – committed to social good.
Over the last three and a half years, Harris, a former corporate tech lawyer and the niece of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, has transformed Phenomenal into much more than a T-shirt company. From the beginning, Harris conceptualized Phenomenal Woman as a social impact initiative. In an article in Vogue magazine from 2018, Harris reflects on her journey as CEO: “I knew that the campaign wasn’t really about a cool T-shirt, but rather using the T-shirt to benefit and amplify a cause. Ultimately, I wondered, why not amplify many causes?”
Today, the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign partners with a growing list of non-profit beneficiaries large and small, which cover a wide range of policy issues, including health equity, criminal justice reform, gender parity in STEM fields, reproductive health, LGBT equality, educational equity, and many more. Through its product messaging, the brand builds a base of activists (many first-time activists) on major issues like voting, sexual assault, immigration and women’s rights. Each issue is made visible in its clothing line – a sampling of shirts for purchase on the company website read “Phenomenally Indigenous,” “Electable,” “Phenomenal Voter,” “Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor,” and “Phenomenally Trans.”
They’re not empty slogans or virtue signals – every single one of the products in the Phenomenal line are tied to both a social justice message and charity component (a complete listing of which can be found on the Phenomenal site). I can think of few other businesses that can make this claim, and yet, research demonstrates what a market this really is. In a survey on Charity and Activism by YPulse, an astounding 87% of people ages 13-39 say that buying products from brands that have social good components make them feel better about spending money, and 85% say that all brands should do some sort of social good/charitable work. In this same population, 88% believe they can make a difference by getting involved in a cause, including translating that activism into supporting brands that inspire social change.
Phenomenal has an extensive list of brand ambassadors, most of them celebrities of color, and is an Instagram darling whose curated feed features a blend of celebrities and everyday women calling attention to the causes that matter most to them. The Phenomenal brand – which now encompasses Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, Phenomenal Media (bringing awareness to issues affecting underrepresented communities) and Phenomenal Girl – is intentional in its outreach to their target audiences, in an effort to create more meaningful engagement. They’ve also partnered with major media organizations on digital campaigns, including a partnership with The New York Times in 2018 for #1600Men, a full-page ad with the signatures of 1,600 men in support of Christine Blasey Ford and survivors of sexual assault. The ad ran in the days leading up to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Justice hearing, making clear the brand is certainly willing to take risk in communicating its values.
In assessing Phenomenal for brand responsibility, I see a few areas with room for improvement. Phenomenal’s website, aside from the merchant function, feels more like a startup than it does a well-oiled business machine (which is likely intentional) – but the About Us page is fairly limited in scope, there is no explainer page on company culture and inclusion, or commitment to sustainability and the environment. Given what we know about environmental impacts of the fashion industry, I do think the brand could benefit by clearly articulating the ethics of its garment production, especially given the price point for many of its products ($60 for a sweatshirt, as example). I would also recommend a little more transparency on what percentage of a sale is given to charity.
Harris is not a newcomer to social responsibility and brand stewardship; she previously worked as an advisor to other brands on corporate citizenship, social responsibility and diversity and inclusion prior to starting Phenomenal. In an article for Complex news, she channels this experience in asking the question: “Are we promoting these issues in a way that is actually aligned with that work? Ultimately, if we grow as big as I think we can, I want to challenge everybody to think about that. You have enormous power in not only being a profitable company, but also a platform.”
Even with room for growth and improvement, the brand exemplifies this idea that buying a t-shirt and posting a photo on social media is a small gesture, but a nevertheless important one, particularly for underrepresented groups in making their voices heard and giving visibility to their identities in authentic ways.
Sources
1. Ellis, S. (2020, Aug. 25). “There’s More to the Phenomenal Woman Brand Than Powerful T-Shirts.” Complex News. https://www.complex.com/style/2020/08/meena-harris-phenomenal-woman.
2. YPulse. (2020, July 22). 4 Brands Building Themselves Around the Causes that Matter to Gen Z. https://www.ypulse.com/article/2020/07/22/4-brands-building-themselves-around-the-causes-that-matter-to-gen-z/
3. Harris, M. (2018, July 18). “How to change the world, a five step guide.” Vogue. https://www.vogue.com.au/vogue-codes/news/how-to-change-the-world-a-five-step-guide/news-story/29ed8a2be4abca83ab95bb63779d5190.
4. Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign website (accessed 2020, Nov. 22). https://phenomenalwoman.us/