Awards & Press

  • Person standing in front of a building with a "Rumah Sukkha Citta" sign, wearing a blue embroidered blouse and light pants.

    Rolex Awards Laureate

    A part of the Perpetual Planet Initiative, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise support exceptional individuals who have the courage and conviction to take on major challenges, initiating extraordinary projects that make the world a better place.

  • Close-up of a person's hand weaving on a traditional loom with threads and woven fabric.

    Using Indigenous techniques to reimagine fashion worldwide | Washington Post

    Denica Riadini-Flesch is taking a time-honored approach to making clothes, regenerating local land, communities and traditions.

  • Woman pressing on fabric with hands

    VOGUE Business Innovator

    Meet the people at the forefront of the industry overhaul, hand-selected by Vogue Business editors.

  • Group of smiling people wearing aprons and hijabs, holding up hands with dye-stained fingers, standing in front of blue fabric backdrop.

    Understanding your ‘enough’: An economist changing lives | Business Times Singapore

    The winner of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise explains why her clothing brand is not about the label, or even its clothes

  • Hands handling raw cotton fibers on a large pile.

    Eine Mode-Unternehmerin will das Leben von 10.000 Menschen verbessern | Der Standard Austria

    Die Indonesierin Denica Riadini-Flesch will die Modeproduktion vom Baumwollanbau bis zum Nähen fair und nachhaltig gestalten.

  • Denica Riadini-Flesch valorise une filière textile durable et responsable | Les Echos

    Cette ex-économiste a monté Sukkha Citta, une filière textile durable valorisant les savoir-faire indonésiens, depuis la culture du coton jusqu'à son tissage, sa teinture et sa réparation.

  • Financial Times article about responsible fashion by Denica Riadini-Flesch, focusing on fair pay for Indonesian craftswomen.

    We need to normalize responsible fashion | Financial Times

    I sit down with Financial Times to share about the true cost of our clothes - and how more than ever we need to shift the narrative from sustainability to responsibility.

  • Person spinning cotton thread by hand, wearing a textured maroon skirt and white shirt, seated on brown ground.

    De la ferme à la penderie | Le Temps

    Economiste de formation, Denica Riadini-Flesch lance en 2016 SukkhaCitta, une entreprise sociale de textile durable. Elle est l’une des cinq lauréats 2023 des «Prix Rolex à l’esprit d’entreprise»

  • Person playing a cello in a lush, green forest setting.

    Why Yo-Yo Ma thinks culture and music can help protect the planet | National Geographic

    A key piece of SukkhaCitta’s mission is environmental. Flesch has been working with the artisans to reclaim natural dyes for their designs—indigo leaves for blues, fruits for yellows, and mahogany and sappanwood for reds.

  • A person smiling while holding an article of clothing on a hanger, with a "Forbes Under 30" badge displayed in the corner.

    Forbes 30 Under 30

    Denica Flesch is a trained economist and the founder of SukkhaCitta, a social enterprise that aims to sustain 5 heritage crafts in Indonesia.

  • Denica Riadini-Flesch SukkhaCitta Rolex Awards Laureate Culture Education

    From paying fair wages to preserving culture and the earth: How she's weaving change through fashion | Straits Times

    Besides partnering artisans and farmers for her Indonesian label, SukkaCitta, 2023 Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate Denica Riadini-Flesch also enables them with business and sustainable farming skills.

  • Three women smiling in a lush, rural landscape, with cotton plants in the foreground and terraced fields in the background.

    Rolex Awards for Enterprise Honor SukkhaCitta Fashion Brand Founder Denica Riadini-Flesch | WWD

    Indonesia's SukkhaCitta sets out to create living wages for women garment workers, protect the environment and preserve the local culture, among the five projects awarded.

  • Woman in a strapless dress posing in front of a decorative, ornate wooden panel with floral carvings and intricate designs.

    SukkhaCitta is the Indonesian label intent on changing the world | VOGUE

    SukkhaCitta—which means happiness in Sanskrit—was founded on heartbreak. The story begins with the sorrowful homecoming of Denica Riadini-Flesch, who returned to Indonesia after training as a development economist in Rotterdam to scenes of abject and endemic poverty.

  • Person speaking in an interview, labeled as "CEO of SukkhaCitta." The setting includes a chair and wall decor.

    Indonesian startup focuses on green cotton | Deutsche Welle

    Sukkha Citta has a mission — making fashion sustainable by using green cotton. Its founders hope to grow the business and start a trend that could revolutionize how the world looks at clothes.

  • Yellow background with text "A positive fashion future is possible" and logos for UN Environment Programme and Fashion for Climate.

    Sustainable Fashion Playbook | UNDP & UN Climate Change

    How can fashion achieve its climate targets by 2030? What’s clear is that just one company doing it is not enough. We need all of us to be part of the solution.

  • Woman adjusting garment on mannequin near wooden weaving loom

    The Founder of SukkhaCitta wants to break the poverty cycle | Channel News Asia

    Denica Riadini-Flesch started Indonesian farm-to-closet fashion label SukkhaCitta to empower craftswomen living in Indonesia’s rural villages, while sparking a change in the fashion industry.

  • Woman smiling outdoors next to text that reads 'The Cost of Looking Good' with subheading 'The fashion industry is at the tipping point of turning sustainable.'"

    The cost of looking good | Forbes

    “At the end of the day, sustainability cannot be purchased. We must actually walk the talk. There is no better time than now.”

  • A woman speaking at a presentation with a microphone in front of a large screen displaying colorful fabric scraps and the text 'We've lost touch.' There is a DBS banner on the left with the slogan 'Live more, Bank less' and a message promoting sustainability. The setting appears to be a conference room.

    DBS Social Enterprise Award

    SukkhaCitta was selected as an awardee from Indonesia, the second time the social enterprise received a grant from DBS Foundation to expand their on-the ground training programs.

  • Denica Riadini-Flesch and Amal Clooney at the Cartier Women Enterpreneurship Award Ceremony in Paris

    Cartier Women's Initiative Award

    First woman in Indonesia to win first place at the prestigious award that recognizes outstanding women impact entrepreneurship.

  • A group of six women standing together, smiling, in front of rustic buildings with tile roofs. They are wearing traditional clothing and appear to be in an outdoor setting with some laundry hanging and a bicycle visible in the background.

    What about women? | United Nations Development Program

    Faced with the economic challenges of COVID-19, Denica Flesch, Founder of SukkhaCitta admits that it would have been easier to quit, but instead, she pushed through.

  • Person in a sleeveless navy dress with patterned dots sitting against a purple background, smiling.

    Generation T | Tatler

    An economist who formerly worked for the social development programme at The World Bank, she also plans to build four craft schools in the country this year.

  • A person focused on weaving inside a rustic setting, with text overlay about SukkhaCitta and sustainable fashion.

    SEED Low Carbon Award Award | UNEP

    Promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development. Through proven regenerative practices they restore soil health and sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. The main drivers for customers to purchase SukkhaCitta products are the design and fabric quality.

  • Group of women sitting on mats, smiling at the camera, wearing aprons, in a room with wall art.

    SukkhaCitta's Denica Riadini-Flesch is changing the future of fashion right here in South East Asia | Grazia

    The visionary is moving the needle with her radical farm-to-closet brand.

  • Natural materials for a better world

    This Is The Other Hidden Cost To Fast Fashion—And Here’s How We Can Fix It | Tatler

    Fast fashion’s heavy footprint extends well beyond the factory floor. Indonesian social entrepreneur Denica Flesch, founder of ethical fashion brand SukkhaCitta, on how the industry impacts the country’s artisans.

  • Denica Riadini-Flesch in a SukkhaCitta evening gown as one of the women celebrated by the Bazaar Icons Gala

    2023 Bazaar Icons | Harper's Bazaar

    Denica Riadini-Flesch is chosen as one of the 5 trailblazing icons for the annual Bazaar Indonesia campaign.

  • Denica Riadini-Flesch with one of SukkhaCitta's Mama Kapas (smallholder cotton farmers).

    What I've Learnt | The Jakarta Post

    ‘What I’ve Learned’ is a column that presents candid interviews with policymakers, artists, activists and businesspeople on facing challenges and making a difference.

  • Denica Riadini-Flesch and other female founders standing on stage at the 2023 Cartier Awards Ceremony.

    Celebrating Women Who Are Changing the World | The Cut

    Denica Riadini-Flesch was “the least fashionable person you will ever meet” when she started her clothing label in 2016. At the time, she was an economist working for a large development organization, but she wanted to make a more direct impact in her native Indonesia.

  • A woman operating a traditional spinning wheel to spin thread from fiber, in an outdoor setting with rustic surroundings.

    Denica Flesch Is Bringing Back Pride to Local Artisans With SukkhaCitta | Darling Magazine

    Often it is said to find the thing that makes you angry enough to want to change it, and therein lies your passion. Darling got to sit down with SukkhaCitta founder, Denica Flesch, a woman who was fueled by a passion to help end the cycle of poverty affecting residents in “last-mile communities” in Indonesia.

  • Close-up of a garment label inside a dark fabric with gold patterns, showing text "Sukkhacitta Atelier" and "Made by Masters."

    Lika Liku Denica Mengkampanyekan Busana Ramah Lingkungan | Tempo Magazine

    Denica Riadini-Flesch berupaya memberdayakan ibu-ibu perajin di desa lewat SukkhaCitta. Membuat busana ramah lingkungan.

  • Farmers in straw hats working in a dry, rocky field surrounded by trees.

    SukkhaCitta : le bonheur est dans le batik | Le Figaro

    En Indonésie, Denica Riadini-Flesch, nouvelle lauréate du Prix Rolex à l'esprit d'entreprise, change la façon dont les vêtements sont fabriqués et vendus, en ravivant la transmission de l'artisanat traditionnel.

  • A modern boutique interior showcasing clothing and home decor items. Decorative fabrics hang from the ceiling, and clothes are neatly arranged on racks. A wooden table displays various items, with a potted plant nearby. A designer logo is visible on the back wall.

    Rolex zeichnet Denica Riadini-Flesch für ihr „Farm-to-Closet“-Konzept SukkhaCitta mit dem Preis für Unternehmergeist aus | ELLE Germany

    Nichts Neues, denken Sie jetzt vielleicht, schließlich berichten wir an dieser Stelle ja regelmäßig über die neusten Trends und Styling-Ideen. Damit hängt allerdings ein Faktor zusammen, der häufig nur wenig Beachtung findet: unser Konsumverhalten. Denn dieses definiert die Lebensstandards in den Herstellungsländern massiv.