Artisan-focused accessory brand Cesta Collective was awarded this year’s DHL Logistics In Fashion award presented by the CFDA and its logistics partner Deutsche Post DHL Group.
Last year was the first time the award was presented, with three brands recognized: luxury women’s label Brandon Maxwell; Area, which was cofounded by Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk, and Lemlem, an artisan-focused brand by Liya Kebede.
As recently as September, the CFDA has been reshaping its board to reflect the diverse narratives of the fashion industry today. This included adding board members Virgil Abloh, Maria Cornejo, Carly Cushnie and Kerby Jean-Raymond, as previously reported by WWD.
A jury of CFDA and DHL representatives jointly decided on Cesta Collective as this year’s winner.
For some, Cesta Collective may be unknown. But the emerging accessories label is carried by department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom and boutique stockists, as well as Goop, likely for its conscious mission.
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The company was founded by Courtney Fasciano and Erin Ryder in 2017. Prior, Fasciano was director of marketing and communications at Loeffler Randall (Jessie Randall was a CFDA Swarovski Award winner for accessory design a decade ago), while Ryder was previously director of branding at Rebecca Taylor.
“One of the main goals of our brand is to connect female artisans in developing economies to a global marketplace,” said Ryder, stressing the ease of access created by DHL.
Female artisans in Rwanda weave each basket design — which includes lunch pails, crossbody, totes — for Cesta using locally sourced, renewable resources in fair trade environments. Finishing is done by hand Stateside using “carefully chosen, sustainable materials.”
The award will enable the brand to receive special discounts for DHL Express international shipping services, dedicated DHL consultation support on global shipping and public relations and social media opportunities with DHL, as the statement indicates.
DHL is also revealing its own sustainable roadmap. Last year, the company announced it was improving its ocean freight transports to make them more environmentally friendly, along with the exploration of “synthetic fuels,” tree-planting initiatives and even offering a “Carbon Calculator” feature for customers, allegedly the first freight forwarder to do so, just this October.
Along with UPS, DHL is included amongst Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.
As part of a human-centered supply chain, the award, and CFDA’s broader partnerships with DHL and Accenture help to foster the interconnectivity between fashion, technology and logistics.
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