Fashion Brand Dôen Hires Director of Impact
Direct-to-consumer fashion brand Dôen has hired Kristine Kim as its first director of impact.
In her role, Kim will help identify ways to translate the brand’s female-first message to the global supply chain, to achieve more ethical and environmentally responsible apparel production and merchandising.
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“Dôen was founded on building a community of empowered women, and you can see that translated into how the brand chooses to behave, and more importantly how they think this mission should translate to the entire global supply chain,” said Kim, who has experience working with fashion brands, factory owners, labor unions, multilateral organizations, national and municipal governments, and academic institutions. She most recently served as a consultant for clients including Better Work, Mosaic Responsible Supplier Resource, Shaina Mote and Nana Atelier.
“In the immediate term I’m conducting a holistic needs assessment of the organization, extending to supply chains, to see what the vision and expectations are of employees and partners, factories and vendors as it relates to impact strategy,” she continued. “The environmental piece is already quite ideated, so I’m coming in to merge the social piece to that, and I’m a big believer in the two being woven together.”
Dôen manufactures goods in India, Turkey, Peru, Romania, Portugal and Los Angeles.
“We are inspired by Kristine’s strong belief in upholding the human worth of workers across all tiers of the supply chain, and her holistic approach to creating systemic advancements. Her depth of knowledge, passion, and steadfast commitment to the evolution of our fashion industry will play an integral role in the future of our business,” said Margaret Kleveland, cofounder and chief executive officer of Dôen.
Sisters Margaret and Katherine Kleveland launched Dôen in 2016 with women’s dresses, nightgowns and tops, and have since expanded into children’s clothing, chunky knits, denim and T-shirts, loungewear as well as Mary Janes, ballet flats and handbags. Prices are $115 to $598 and female empowerment and motherhood are brand touchstones. Fans include actress Busy Philipps, Zoë Kravitz, Lily Aldridge, Zoey Deutch, Samantha Traina and hairstylist Tracey Cunningham, a partner in the business.
The Klevelands opened their first store in Brentwood Country Mart in 2019, and have collaborated with Net-a-porter on capsule collections, as well as with Liberty and home accessories designer Heather Taylor.
As of year-end 2020, Dôen has been profitable every year since its launch; the brand saw about 120 percent year-over-year growth in its second and third years, was up 60 percent year-over-year in its fourth year, and grew about 28 percent in its fifth year.
Recently, Dôen has been strengthening its executive ranks. In May, the brand hired Holly Soroca as its first president.
Soroca began her nearly 25-year career as a buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, before joining Theory as vice president of sales. She returned to Saks for another three years, until she moved on to Dutch LLC, where she oversaw West Coast brands Joie, Current/Elliott and Equipment as president of sales. Most recently, she was president at Frame for nearly four years.
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