Jen Sidary, a Kansas City native and luxury fashion and e-commerce executive, will be the featured speaker at Jewish Federation’s Women of Strength event on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Sidary’s career, which has spanned nearly three decades, has included building luxury businesses, developing strategic partnerships between independent designers and global retailers and helping bring emerging designers to audiences around the world.
Sidary began her career in Kansas City, spending 12 years at Halls, where she served as a footwear buyer. She went on to hold leadership positions in the luxury fashion and e-commerce industries, including serving as president of Vivienne Westwood America and as head of luxury at Zappos.
In recent years, Sidary’s work has taken on an extra level of meaning and impact. She has dedicated herself to supporting and elevating Ukrainian designers during one of the most difficult periods in the country’s modern history.
Since late 2020, Sidary has spent significant time in Ukraine. As the country and its people faced the devastating effects of war, she became deeply involved in helping Ukrainian designers continue their work and share their creativity with the world.
In April 2022, Sidary founded AngelForFashion.com, a multi-brand platform dedicated to elevating independent designers from Ukraine and the broader Eastern European region. Through her work, Ukrainian designers have gained international visibility in the fashion world, including in New York, Paris and Milan fashion weeks.
By helping designers maintain and grow their businesses amid extraordinary circumstances, Sidary has helped bring global attention not only to their work, but also to the perseverance and strength of the Ukrainian people.
Attendees at the Oct. 28 event will have the opportunity to hear directly from Sidary about her career, her connection to Ukraine and the experiences that led her to use her expertise and international network to support independent designers during a time of crisis.
In addition to Sidary, the Women of Strength event will feature this year’s community honorees. They include Alice Jacks Achtenberg, Kara Kahn Bush, Barbie Rogoff, Hilary Cohen Singer and Carly Stein. Beth Liss will also be recognized as the Kansas City recipient of the Lion of Judah Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award.
Women of Strength will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the National WWI Museum and Memorial. Tickets can be purchased at jewishkansascity.org/WOS.
