Co-founder of LuxImpact Coralie de Fontenay

Coralie de Fontenay is a co-founder of LuxImpact, which invests in and manages eco-conscious luxury brands, and she was previously at Richemont, owner of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and A Lange & Söhne. Here she highlights five new-wave brands she loves: “They are all led by inspiring and committed women, who have embedded their positivity, passion and resilience in their business,” she says. “I feel deeply connected to the values that drive them, the beauty of their products and the stories they tell”

Molli

Founded in 1886 and revived by Charlotte de Fayet, this ready-to-wear brand combines unique craftsmanship and Parisian chic. From the use of no-waste extra-fine virgin wool to clean energy, Molli’s knitwear embeds sustainability and luxury into each stage of production. The result is fine knitwear that combines femininity, elegance, comfort and joy.

molli.com

Knitwear designs at Molli

Rouvenat

This historic 19th-century French jewellery house has been revived by four industry insiders including Marie Berthelon. The idea is to bring forgotten treasures back to light, including marvellous old stones with a soul: old materials, new jewellery. It is the only entirely circular jeweller that focuses on highlighting and reinvigorating the value of human and natural resources at all levels.

rouvenat.com

Rouvenat’s ‘old materials, new jewellery’

Gitti

Jennifer Baum-Minkus, Gitti’s daring Berlin-based founder, is revolutionising beauty through vegan plant-based nailcare products.

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine 

Her vision is one of positivity, producing a variety of brightly coloured polishes while only using safe ingredients from natural origins, and refusing to compromise on a high-quality and glossy formula.

gittibeauty.com

A range of Gitti’s nail and cuticle products

Kimaï

Hailing from families of diamond dealers and jewellers in Antwerp, friends Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus have used their knowledge to build the ethical fine-jewellery brand Kimaï. Their aim is to offer, using lab-grown diamonds and recycled gold – jewellery of high quality and low impact.

kimai.com

‘Jewellery with a traceable, responsible background’

Cuvée Privée

Founded by Marie Forget, Aurélie Berthon and Morgane Suquet, Cuvée Privée offers a new way to buy wine: through an authentic and transparent relationship between the customer, the land and its artisans. You can adopt your own vine from a selection of vineyards and watch it grow from first grape to bottling, receiving the resulting personalised bottles in your own name.

cuvee-privee.com

Cuvée Privée ‘offers a new way to buy wine’

Share:
Reading time: 2 min

Philanthropist Nachson Mimran at Alara Building in Lagos

Latest figures indicate there are more than 16 million high-net-worth individuals in the world, which means a lot of potential to contribute to positive change. LUX asks three of the globe’s most established social and environmental philanthropists to identify individuals of the new generation who are helping change the world for good

Philanthropist Nachson Mimran, Switzerland

Mimran is co-founder of to.org, an innovative organisation combining philanthropy, investment, startup accelerator and social-enterprise multiplier. He collaborates across creative and tech fields to support and empower the world’s vulnerable. “There are many synergies between the work of those I have nominated and the work of to.org,” he says.

Nachson Mimran & his daughter in an elevator in Gstaad, Switzerland

The Nominees

Kweku Mandela, US

“Kweku’s work as a producer and film-maker inspires movements that instigate positive change. Like to.org, Kweku understands the power of using culture as a Trojan horse to communicate important messages. As the grandson of Nelson Mandela, he also stewards the Mandela legacy.”

Elizabeth Sheehan, US

“Liz is a founding partner of Project Dandelion, a women-led movement for climate justice.
A global-health expert, she is a passionate philanthropist and creative leader working at the intersection of climate change, gender justice and health resilience.”

Hosh Ibrahim at a Mo Ibrahim Foundation meeting

Hosh Ibrahim, UK

“Hosh does important work to support stateless people and strengthen governance in the human-rights sector across Africa. He also serves on the council of his father’s foundation, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in the Sudan, which works to strengthen the African voice around global challenges.”

Read more: Car reviews: Porsche 911 Dakar, BMW M4 Convertible, Mazda CX-60

The philanthropist Neera Nundy

Philanthropist Neera Nundy, India

Dasra, or “enlightened giving” in Sanskrit, was co-founded in 1999 in India by Nundy and her husband Deval Sanghavi as a fund to invest in early stage non-profit organisations working in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals areas of gender equality, urban resilience and sanitation. In 25 years, Dasra has unlocked over US$350 million and impacted over 180 million people through its trusted ecosystem, in a mission “to help transform India”.

The Nominees

Nikhil Kamath, India

“As the youngest Indian signatory of Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffet’s Giving Pledge, Nikhil
has committed 50 per cent of his wealth to causes including climate change, education and healthcare. Through his YouTube podcast, WTF Is, Nikhil, along with his business leader guests, is leveraging digital media to disrupt philanthropic giving by donating to audience- selected charities.”

Nikhil Kamath with Bill Gates in the podcast WTF Is

Radhika Bharat Ram, India

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine 

“Radhika co-founded KARM Trust with her husband Kartik. The trust focuses on anchoring its unique fellowship programme, which involves empowering girls from economically challenging backgrounds in India to pursue their dreams, realise their potential and become catalysts to transform their communities.”

The philanthropist Ben Goldsmith

Philanthropist Ben Goldsmith, UK

A financier and environmentalist, Goldsmith is at the forefront of campaigns for rewilding in Britain and Europe, and founded and chairs the Conservation Collective (CC), a network of locally focused foundations. “To meet the scale of the environmental challenges ahead, we need more philanthropists like those I have nominated,” he says. “The solutions are within reach – if we can muster the funding and the collective will to act.”

The Nominees

Becky Holmes, UK

“At the helm of The Helvellyn Foundation, Becky Holmes has become a powerful advocate for environmental restoration. Her support of the CC’s Highlands & Islands Environment Foundation has been particularly impactful, funding local nature recovery projects across the Scottish Highlands and islands. She is one of those philanthropists who are not just investing in conservation, but leading the charge, reimagining the relationship between humanity and the natural world.”

Nancy Burrell at the Knepp rewilding project

Nancy Burrell, UK

“Chair of the Argosaronic Environment Foundation, Nancy Burrell aims to protect and restore the natural beauty of the Argolic and Saronic Gulf, where she has spent much of her life. Her early experiences at Knepp’s famous rewilding project in Sussex ignited a lifelong dedication to restoring wild nature. As a DPhil candidate at Oxford, Nancy is exploring the carbon storage potential within rewilded ecosystems – work that could prove vital in addressing the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. She is one of the brilliant individuals representing a new era in environmental philanthropy.”

Read more: Domaine de Vieux-Mareuil: A luxurious sanctuary of freedom in southwest France

The philanthropist Alina Baimen

Philanthropist Alina Baimen, Canada

Kazakhstan-born Baimen is co-founder and CEO of EdHeroes, a decentralised network aimed at improving access to quality education worldwide, in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4. With previous charity work including leading kindergarten projects in remote areas of Thailand, she was featured in 30 Under 30 Forbes Kazakhstan in 2023. Says Baimen, “My nominees are true change-makers.”

The Nominees

Mangkunegara X, King of Surakarta, Indonesia

“His Majesty supports philanthropic projects in areas including Indonesian batik art and education. EdHeroes collaborated with the Royal Palace on the recent Masterpiece Batik Humanity in Harmony project. Organised by the Indonesian Paediatric Cancer Foundation and the Royal Palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, it brought together batik experts and children with cancer in a celebration of art and bravery, and raised significant funds for cancer treatment for those children.”

A batik-creating event for cancer fundraising, supported by Mangkunegara X

Malala Yousafzai, UK

“The activist for female education is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is one of the most inspiring people in the world through the scale of her personality, courage and belief in the power of education make this world a little better. We named her Malala Fund, which invests in girls’ education programmes, in our guide of organisations with outstanding impact, and have since been in touch with her team, who are real pioneers.”

Henry Motte-Muñoz, Philippines

“As founder and Executive Chair of edukasyon.ph, the largest edtech platform in the Philippines, Henry helps empower more than eight million students each year with advice, soft-skills training and academic support. He started his philanthropic journey very young and made it to Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. He also serves as a member of the EdHeroes Advisory Board.”

Share:
Reading time: 5 min