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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 is chosen as one of the 5 trailblazing icons for the annual Bazaar Indonesia campaign.

‘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 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.

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.

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