On September 10, 2026, during New York Fashion Week, Sutton Stracke, star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and founder of circular fashion house Sutton Brands, hosted the 5th Annual Women Pioneers of Circular Fashion at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance. The event honored Susan Rockefeller, entrepreneur, conservationist, and founder of Musings Magazine; Julia O'Mara, co-founder and COO of Pickle; and Kristy Caylor, founder and CEO of Trashie, for their contributions to advancing a circular economy in fashion.
The annual celebration, now in its fifth year, recognizes women who are driving the fashion industry toward sustainability through entrepreneurship, innovation, and practices that keep clothing in use and out of landfills. This year's event featured a preview of Sutton Brands' Green Label and circular-fashion retail experience, a live performance by the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance, and an intimate gathering of leaders from fashion, entertainment, and sustainability. The event was also filmed for Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Stracke's work with Sutton Brands focuses on keeping beautiful clothing in circulation through curated collections, retail experiences, and take-back partnerships that connect designers, consumers, and the reverse-logistics infrastructure necessary to extend garment life. The September 10 celebration also marked the opening of the Name'Em City Pop-Up Tour, a five-city retail experience bringing Sutton Brands' circular-fashion concept to New York, Nashville, Dallas, Charleston, and Chicago through spring 2027.
"Every year we set aside one evening in New York for the women actually doing this work," said Sutton Brown, Founder of Sutton Brands. "Susan, Julia, and Kristy have each solved a different piece of the same problem — how you get clothing moving again instead of sitting unworn. This industry has no shortage of conversation. These three have volume."
The 2026 honorees represent diverse approaches to circular fashion. Susan Rockefeller has used storytelling and advocacy to encourage a more thoughtful relationship with what we make, consume, and value. Julia O'Mara is helping transform traditional fashion ownership by creating a shared approach to closets and clothing. Kristy Caylor has made clothing take-back more accessible by creating systems that encourage consumers to move unwanted clothing out of their closets and back into circulation. Previous honorees include Rachel Kibbe, Sarah Barnes, and Dana Thomas.
The New York celebration welcomed notable entertainment and fashion personalities, including RHOBH stars Erika Jayne and Tracy Tutor, designer Brian Atwood, The Real Housewives of London star Juliet Mayhew, model Lance Stefanakis, GURUS Fashion Director Nolé Marin, KJ Dillard, model Victoria Pousada Kriendler, and influencers Kay Dudley and Tay Dudley. The event was presented in partnership with The Return, GURUS, Graham 100—celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company—Sutton, Est. 1971, S&M Wine Co., J.T. Meleck Distillers, and Berkeley College.
Sutton Brands, co-founded by Sutton Brown (formerly known to television audiences as Sutton Stracke), is a circular fashion house built on the belief that beautiful clothing should stay in circulation. Through curated collections, retail experiences, and take-back partnerships, the company works to connect designers, consumers, and the reverse-logistics infrastructure necessary to keep garments in use and out of landfill. Its sustainability philosophy emphasizes longevity, reuse, repurposing, and more conscious consumption, offering an alternative to the traditional linear fashion model. For more information, visit Sutton Brands Sustainability or SuttonBrands.com.
This event underscores the growing momentum behind circular fashion, a model that could significantly reduce textile waste and reshape how consumers interact with clothing. By honoring leaders and launching a multi-city tour, Sutton Brands is helping to mainstream sustainable practices, potentially influencing industry standards and consumer behavior on a broader scale.
