2017 is the year of the girl – at least, in my humble opinion. The year of female empowerment, the year of female rebellion and female celebration. Just take a look around – more and more everyday women, celebrities and companies are focusing on and celebrating this resurgence of female empowerment.

Companies such as Kate Spade have created new sectors to their respective companies that benefit women across the world through the purchase of their products. In 2014 Kate Spade began a new line of accessories called On Purpose. These products are made by 150 women in Rwanda who specialize in jewelry making. Kate Spade pays these women a monthly salary for their work which is 40 percent higher than a typical wage found in Rwanda and allows these women to support their families, according to an interview with the CEO of Kate Spade & Co. Craig Leavitt and ABC News. Kate Spade knows that through their empowerment of these women in Rwanda, a change can be made in their communities.

In the fashion world, other brands are following in Kate Spade’s footsteps with the promotion of women’s rights and empowerment in their designs and products. T-shirts with the slogan “We Should All Be Feminists” made an appearance on Dior’s Spring 2017 runway show. This slogan references Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists” essay from 2014. A portion of the proceeds from the Dior T-shirt sales will be donated to The Clara Lionel Foundation, which provides healthcare and education to impoverished communities. Bringing this mentality onto iconic fashion runways demonstrates the growing knowledge of female power.

Academy Award Best Picture nominee “Hidden Figures” also highlighted the immense, and overlooked, power held by women. The film shed light on not just the adversity three women faced but how crucial their role was during the Space Race in the ‘60s.  According to Huffington Post, women only make up 11 percent of today’s practicing engineers. However, with the help of programs like supermodel Karlie Kloss’s free two-week coding program for young girls, Kode with Klossy, this gender gap can be fixed.

Celebrities such as Emma Watson, Lena Dunham and more recently, Anne Hathaway, are all speaking up on account of women, popularizing women’s issues even more. Emma Watson is undoubtedly this generation’s Gloria Steinem, partnering with UN Women by creating a campaign HeForShe which encourages gender equality, and portraying Belle in “Beauty and the Beast,” a heroine who stays true to who she is, not allowing others to cloud her sense of self.    

As March is National Women’s History Month, it is important to celebrate and honor those women who came before us to defend our rights. But it is equally important to look toward the future and create a place where women are celebrated and not criticized; and with the recent resurgence and popular advocation of the empowerment of women, the world can get there. As Kate Spade’s website states, “when women thrive amazing things can happen,” so get out there and support your local girl gang.