Global Girls

Art, creativity and design have always been an integral part of Linda’s life. As young as kindergarten Linda was creating her own dolls and houses to play with; throughout elementary school she was always named “best artist in class,” and in middle school she began designing and sewing her own party dresses.

In adult life, Linda continued with her passion for art, design and fashion with her own business making custom-dyed backdrops for photographers and one-of-a-kind pillows from vintage fabric. In both businesses, she relied on her talent for dying fabric and her keen sense of aesthetics. To create the decorative pillows, Linda hand-dyed the vintage damask she sourced at flea markets to accent the rare, vintage centerpieces featured in the pillows. Over the course of 20 years, Linda also simultaneously worked as a costume designer/wardrobe stylist for movies, television and print media.

It wasn’t until after a self-described “mid-life crisis” and a 2008 visit to Kenya that Linda launched Global Girls, which allowed her to marry her design interests and her desire to bring a humanitarian component to her work: Global Girls supports women artisans, offering them sustainable employment for their work. Linda designs the intricate patterns for the sandals and belts that Global Girls offers and works hand-in-hand with her artisans that execute them.

“In Africa, women truly are the backbone of the community,” Linda says. “Empowering them is rewarding and life-changing.” She now returns to the country every six months, for one month at a time to create new styles and work on production.