• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 8, 2022

For many women-supported brands and companies, International Women's Day offers a chance to showcase purpose-driven partnerships and fun activations. For Lululemon, it's a moment to take a mighty step, unveiling its first footwear line, engineered just for women.

The long-anticipated announcement shows that Lululemon is gaining on competitive giants Nike and Adidas. And industry forecasts already predict Lululemon will top Nike in sales of women's apparel this year.

"We intentionally started with women first because we saw an opportunity to solve for the fact that, more often than not, performance shoes are designed for men and then adapted for women," said Sun Choe, Lululemon's chief product officer, in its announcement. "That didn't sit well with us. Innovating for women is in Lululemon's DNA—now we're bringing that same expertise to footwear, and women were part of this journey every step of the way."

The shoes sell at $148 a pair,  with a style for running, cross-training, training and a post-workout slide.

Men's shoes are expected to debut next year.

Of course, many other brands are making noise to celebrate International Women's Day, promoting the organization's 2022 theme of #BreakTheBias. (LinkedIn, HCL and John Deere are this year's partners.)

The event has been celebrated since 1911 and formalized as March 8 by the United Nations back in 1975. (It chose that date to commemorates a famous 1917 strike organized by Russian women, demanding peace, bread and the vote.)

By 2017, the holiday had developed a potent cultural punch, symbolized by State Street's famous "Fearless Girl" statue and the burgeoning #MeToo movement generating plenty of media attention.

This year, Gymshark is introducing "We, The Changemakers," a campaign that showcases its conviction that women belong in every corner of the fitness industry. Besides elevating the voices of its women athletes, it's also introducing Gym Safe Ladies, a group that raises awareness of sexual harassment in gyms.

The campaign also highlights Precious Adams, the Michigan-born ballerina with the English National Ballet, and the Yellow Jacket Roller Derby squad from Georgia Tech.

Retailers are also celebrating. H&M is marking the day with its ongoing partnership with Buy From A Black Woman, a nonprofit supporting Black entrepreneurs.

Along with a $250,000 donation, H&M  is planning its next Buy From a Black Woman Inspire Tour, using H&M USA's channels and brick and mortar locations to highlight Black Woman-owned businesses across the country this summer. And for the fall, it plans to sponsor a 10-week online business training course for Black woman business owners.

Neiman Marcus is teaming up with Boss Beauties, a women-led global initiative and NFT project, for a new "Role Models" NFT collection. The 25 NFTs honor Neiman Marcus co-founder Carrie Marcus Neiman and icons like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Frida Kahlo.

Nordstrom is also pairing with the International Labor Organization to improve working conditions in the garment industry and promote gender equality and inclusion in factories.

Toy companies are also deepening their commitment. Barbie seldom misses a chance to step in as a role model. This year's global campaign from Mattel includes dolls honoring Shonda Rhimes, founder of Shondaland, and Ari Horie, founder of Women's Startup Lab, from the U.S., as well as ten more innovators from around the world.

Based in El Segundo, California, Mattel says its efforts continue to focus on the Barbie Dream Gap Project, launched in 2018. Its goal of helping more women reach leadership roles starts with young children -- based on research that girls begin to doubt their competence by age 5.

Mattel is also partnering with Inspiring Girls International, a nonprofit that's creating Dream Gap workshops, with plans to reach 3,500 girls in the coming year.

For every Barbie Style Collection item sold in March, Mattel says it will donate 5% of proceeds to the project.

But our favorite, of course, is Lego, already deeply invested in programs to encourage girls' design and leadership skills. This year, it's commemorating conservationist Jane Goodall with her own playset. (Last year's honoree was Amelia Earhart.) While supplies last, the set -- with a Goodall figure and three chimpanzees -- is free for orders over $120.