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New York, NY – Founded in 2014, behno has been championing ethical manufacturing for the fashion industry. Founder and Creative Director, Shivam Punjya, came from an academic background, having studied political economics and global poverty during his undergraduate years and global health with a focus on women’s health for his master’s degree.
behno Founder and Creative Director, Shivam Punjya
As Vogue mentions, Punjya worked with textile weavers during his thesis research and came back to university to “drive home the point of newfound inclusiveness in fashion”. Punjya created “The behno Standard” which focuses on six categories, ranging from garment worker health to women’s rights to eco-consciousness, to holistically enhance garment worker and artisan rights. Vogue says, “behno [became] a new label asking (and answering) all the right questions”.
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Two months ago, behno launched its first handbag collection at Bergdorf Goodman as the retailer identified behno’s high quality craftsmanship, modern silhouettes and conscious manufacturing as a customer favorite. behno has taken over the consumer market with Mashable saying that behno “isn’t just chic, it’s [also] socially responsible” while Business of Fashion mentioned behno in an “it bag” story crediting the label’s word-of-mouth phenomena. InStyle has named behno as a part of the “fashion formula”; and this is really happening, ethical pieces are being integrated into women’s wardrobes as the need to shop consciously becomes a growing necessity of the modern woman. PopSugar mentioned that the label’s signature Ina bag is one “we’d buy right now”. Emma Watson has worn the label on numerous occasions placing her on the best dressed lists of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.
Lately, behno has also been involved in exciting projects globally; the label was selected to be a part of the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange at Buckingham Palace, where an eveningwear look was presented to HRH the Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton; and behno was also lauded in Milan at the Scala alla Teatro as top five in the Green Carpet Awards where celebrities, including Julianne Moore, Anna Wintour, Cate Blanchett and others, celebrated accomplishments.
Although young in its handbag pivot, Surface Magazine sees excitement in its limited edition ethically made bags, stating, “behno’s refined…[bags] give their makers… as much importance as the end user.”
