Instagram sensation, author, fashion designer, and all around entrepreneur Danielle Bernstein of @WeWoreWhat wears many, many hats. Over the past year, she’s made a great impact on countless lives by engaging her 2.6 million followers to take part in the philanthropic arm of WeWoreWhat — WeGaveWhat. The initiative started at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Together, with her community, she has supported numerous charitable initiatives and has raised awareness for many small businesses. We caught up with Bernstein to learn more.
What inspired you to start WeGaveWhat?
When the pandemic started, I felt a responsibility to use the platform I had built over the past ten years to help others. I opened up my platform to ask my followers how I could help, and also called on my followers to help others. The WeWoreWhat community came together in such a powerful way in those first few months. Every time I posted a small business and told their story, hundreds of people would go to support it. When I shared an initiative that needed support, the community would also show up. Together we were able to keep dozens of small businesses afloat and donate tens of thousands of dollars to food banks, hospitals, frontline workers who needed it most. I saw how powerful our community was at making an impact and knew I wanted to continue this work beyond the pandemic.
I connected with one of my followers, Alex Bushman, who worked for one of the first small businesses I had supported — Eat Offbeat, a refugee and immigrant led catering company. Together we had the idea to build out this new arm of my brand, WeGaveWhat, where I could grow and scale these social impact initiatives even once Covid was over.
Which WeGaveWhat projects are you most proud of accomplishing over the past year?
There are so many initiatives we’ve worked on that I’m proud of — it’s hard to decide! But I think what has been the most rewarding is being able to use my brands (ShopWeWoreWhat and Danielle Bernstein) to amplify the work we do on WeGaveWhat. We’ve been able to tie a giveback initiative into almost every launch since the pandemic. It’s been amazing to use these launches to support a diverse range of causes — from $5,000 to STOP AAPI HATE, to one million miles for reuniting refugees/migrants with their families, to advocating for LGBTQ rights through the Ali Forney Center for LGBTQ, and so on.
I’m also so proud of our two Showfields pop-ups that have given thirty small businesses an opportunity to showcase their products and stories in the heart of SoHo for free. This is the first retail experience for the majority of them and to get to know them and be able to support them in this way has been so special.
How did the Covid-19 pandemic, and all that has happened over the past year, change the way you do business and give back?
Everything that has happened this year has made it abundantly clear to me (and hopefully to all other business owners) that social impact must be at the core of all brands. Mission-driven brands can create so much positive change in this world. We as business owners owe it to our customers and our communities to make this a priority, not an after-thought.
Through WeGaveWhat you support many small businesses. Are there any success stories that stick out?
We love all of our WeGaveWhat small businesses so much! It’s such a diverse and inspiring group of founders and each one has an incredible story and product. A few success stories that stand out are Mila + Me, Lunika, and Shop Dana Scott.
Mila + Me is one of the first small businesses I connected with during Covid. It’s a tie-dye company founded by a Latina mom, inspired by her daughter, Camila. Camila was born right before the pandemic and had health complications. Thank god, Mila is now the healthiest and most adorable baby, but her mom (Melissa) started her small business during Covid as a way for her and Mila to bring joy, color, and comfort into people’s worlds during an otherwise dark and scary time. Mila + Me was part of our first Showfields curation, and I got to meet Melissa and Mila in person when they came and visited the store! It was so amazing that Camila’s first trip to New York City was to see their clothes in SoHo!
Lunika is another small business that was part of our first Showfields curation. The owner, Francesca, started her small business after being in a super serious car accident where she was hit head on by a drunk driver. Francesca lost some of her vision and was unable to keep her job, so she began making jewelry with her mom as a way to heal. Francesca is such a beautiful soul and told us that because of the attention she got from WeGaveWhat, Revolve approached her to be sold on their site!
Lastly, Shop Dana Scott is one of our small businesses that we were able to collaborate with on our WeGaveWhat merchandise (our first ever collab)! Dana Scott is a Black-owned business that I also connected with early on. Dana moved to LA seven years ago with little to nothing and slept on a couch for nine months, while she worked her way through three different part time jobs until she was finally ready to start her own business. Dana shared with us that the traction she got from WeGaveWhat helped her get enough business to leave her other jobs and pursue her small business full time!
When you’re on the East End, are there any small businesses or non-profits that you like to support?
One of my favorite small businesses to support Out East is my good friend’s store, Wyld Blue. She has the best, curated pieces! I love going to Crows Nest for dinner and drinks, and then Balsam Farms during the day, to name a few!
