New Lingerie Brand Turns Underwear Into an Important Social Movement

We don’t think we’re reaching too far to say that, for most women, lingerie (and underwear in general) is a rather intimate subject, and is of the utmost importance when it comes to how our clothes end up fitting our bodies. We definitely take our underwear pretty seriously, but it’s also largely true that we’ve never particularly thought of it as a method for social change. Enter lingerie brand Empowered by You.

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Founder Renata Black spent years working in MicroFinance, the general term for a global system of funding small business entrepreneurs, usually in third-world countries, who don’t have access to banking and other standard forms of financial backing.  Renata’s focus was providing these services for women specifically.

“We helped women start their own business as an exit strategy out of poverty,” Renata, who helped more than 2,500 women escape poverty, tells StyleCaster. “Women have proven statistically to be the best investment. The first thing they do is they help their kids go to school and send them to doctors; it breaks the cycle of poverty for children.”

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“I wanted to continue doing this work but I didn’t want to do a traditional charity, so I had to come up with an innovative way to view microfinance consistently,” she explains of Empowered by You. “We knew the only way this is going to be sustainable is if you have a product.  Lingerie is the closest thing to your skin; it’s something that’s very intimate to all of us; you talk about your intimates you immediately feel it’s a personal subject. The empowerment of women is also a very personal subject.” She and her team set out to create the perfect seamless panty that would provide funding for women in poverty-stricken areas to start their own businesses.

How It Works: The idea is fairly simple, really: for each pair of underwear sold (prices range from $22 to $26), Empowered by You sends 20% of the profit straight to women in poverty to help them start their own small businesses.

“It’s this whole idea of, instead of giving a woman a fish, you teach her how to fish,” Renata explains. “Today’s woman knows that she has choices and that her choices matter. If she has two choices, she is going to exercise her choice to empower women everywhere, so she knows that what she’s wearing is beyond the fabric. We aimed to create a great product that is also a symbol of empowerment, to give a deeper meaning to intimates.”

A Special Partnership: Until now, Empowered by You’s line of panties has only been available in their e-commerce store and at select small boutiques nationwide; but they just ignited a collaboration with Scoop NYC on a limited-edition line that fives20% of net profits goes to the Seven Bar Foundation, a specific microfinance organization that provides loans to women. “Scoop is showing that the empowerment of women and great product are both important to them,” Renata says. “This is a major indication of the market and where it’s going: it’s really about a conscious consumer and a conscious business.”

Check It Out: EmpoweredByYou.com

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Louisiana bans welfare benefits usage at lingerie shops, jewelry stores – The Times

State welfare officials are tightening the reins on how residents can use cash benefits they receive from assistance programs.

Louisiana’s
Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) issued an emergency rule
Thursday (March 20) that would eventually ban the use of welfare benefits at
jewelry stores, lingerie shops and other establishments that don’t allow customers under 18 years of age.

The
move comes a week after NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reported Gonzales-based
lingerie store Kiss My Lingerie had been allowing its customers to pay for
adult specialty items with
their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card for eight months.

“We
want to ensure that these federal assistance benefits are used appropriately
and not at locations that do not help a family meet basic needs,” said
DCFS Secretary Suzy Sonnier. “This rule will not affect families who
currently use the program as intended, which is to provide food, shelter and
clothing for families.”

Under
the new rule, violating recipients would have their benefits stalled
for 12 months on the first offense, 24 months on the second and permanently on
the third. State officials said DCFS will rely on retailers and the public to
help report any suspected fraud, and will also randomly review
monthly transactions for possible use at any of the prohibited locations.

Regulations
cover the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program, commonly known as
welfare benefits, and the Kinship Care Subsidy Program.

Cash benefits are loaded onto the EBT card, also known as the Louisiana
Purchase card. The Louisiana
EBT website says that residents can purchase cleaning products, pet
food and paper products with their EBT cards, and that some grocery stores
allow residents to get cash back from a transaction. However, under a March 2013 DCFS ruling, it became illegal to use cash benefits for tobacco, alcohol, lottery tickets, casinos and adult
entertainment. 

According to the
Louisiana EBT website, residents receiving cash benefits can also redeem
from ATMs displaying the Quest logo, although they may have to pay a surcharge.
Stores, however, must apply to the federal government to be able to accept EBT
cards as a form of payment.

According to DCFS, there are less than 10,000 people who get the cash
benefits, compared with 835,000 who use the EBT card strictly for the food
benefits.

State
Representative Chris Broadwater is partnering with DCFS to draft new
legislation supporting the emergency rule and allowing DCFS to fine
retailers who don’t follow the guidelines.

State officials say EBT
cards can no longer be used at:

• Any retail
  establishment that provides adult-oriented entertainment in which performers
  disrobe or perform in an unclothed state for entertainment purposes or adult
  bookstores or adult paraphernalia and any sexually oriented business
• Any nail salon
• Any tattoo, piercing,
  or commercial body art facility
• Any jewelry store
• Any amusement or
  video arcade
• Any bail bonds
  company
• Any nightclub, bar,
  tavern, or saloon
• Any cruise ship
• Any psychic business
• Any establishment
  where persons under age 18 are not permitted

******

Renita D. Young is
a business reporter based in Baton Rouge. Email her at ryoung@nola.com or call
504.352.2548. You can also keep up with all of her local updates on Twitter @RenitaDYoung and
through NOLA.com Baton Rouge
on Facebook.

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