There are many studies which look into the confidence gap between boys and girls, starting at a young age. This is a global phenomenon, fueled in large part by the media, advertising, and outdated social messaging that perpetuates gender roles rather than dismantling these barriers.
Thankfully, in the age we’re living in, we are seeing so many people taking a stand against outdated gender norms and creating brands, platforms, messages and projects that seek to usher in a more inclusive and inspiring way of thinking about our place in the world. For girls, this is especially crucial, given the aforementioned confidence gap.
Between the ages of 8-14 years old a girls’ self-esteem drops by up to 30%. This drop in self-esteem is often followed by, quitting sports, losing the courage to say what’s really on their minds, comparing and thinking others are cooler and smarter than they are, following the crowd in the fear of standing out, and insecurities that lead to “mean girl” tendencies and putting each other down.
Parents everywhere can no doubt relate to this struggle, and one mom in particular is choosing to challenge the status quo with a new apparel line she created. Raelene Clarke is a mom of 3 young daughters, originally from South Africa but now based in Hong Kong, is the founder of Indica Girls – a collection of charcoal bamboo leggings for girls aged 5-12 with special prints, reminding girls of their greatness.
At the time of this article being written, she is running a Kickstarter campaign (with 2 weeks to go!) which has also been featured on the homepage of the uber popular crowdfunding site as part of their campaign to support Black creators. Raelene shares her story on the site of how the idea came about, and what she hopes to share with girls and parents who buy the leggings and back her campaign.
“As a mother of 3 young girls I felt inspired to start a brand that encourages confidence, bravery and sisterly love so that young girls around the world are better equipped to take on the inevitable self-esteem challenges that come with growing up. Using fashion, more specifically leggings, Indica will wrap reminders of confidence, bravery, and sisterly love around their legs as they run through life,” she writes.
The Indica Girl prints symbolize 3 key values:
1. The shooting star: CONFIDENCE – “We are not afraid to shine. A shooting star breeds hope”.
2. The moon: BRAVERY – “We do not fear the unknown. The moon shines in the dark night, illuminating the path ahead”.
3. The heart: SISTERLY LOVE – “We are in this together. The heart signifies our sisterly love”.
Raelene says she did a lot of research over the past few years to come up with the brand messaging and find materials that would be sustainable. Hearing from other moms and their daughters about the challenges they face in the world also gave her the encouragement to know she was launching something that would have an impact on her target consumer base.
“I spent the last 2 1/2 years, in between having two more children, learning about (with my fair share of tears) fabrics, fit, manufacturing, printing, packaging, testing and certifications, tax and everything related to starting an e-commerce business. The best part of the learning journey (by far!) was carrying out a 6-week insights session with young girls and their mothers. I spent time on what they look for in a pair of leggings, what is missing, or what they don’t like about the current products. We also explored the ups and downs each girls faces with regards to their self-confidence journey. These insights drove our fabric and design choices but most importantly informed Indica’s three key values: confidence, bravery, and sisterly love,” she writes.
We love that in a world where so much is uncertain right now, where so many families and individuals are struggling to make sense of what is happening culturally, socially and politically, we can find hope and inspiration among leaders like Raelene who is choosing to create change right where she is.
While COVID-19 has introduced a lot of challenges for businesses and entrepreneurs, Raelene is working hard to finish her campaign with the funds needed to produce the first 1000 leggings and matching sports bra’s, packaging and hang tags. If you believe in Indica Girls’ empowering message of bravery and confidence, you can donate to the campaign here while it is still running, and keep up to date with news via the website, and Instagram page.
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