Shiffon Co. on Shondaland: How One Tiny Ring Is Lifting Up Thousands of Women

 

It's funny, the things that can bring you joy, an actual feeling of warmth and maybe a touch of giddiness, which often arrive in small packages and out of the blue. But that's the only way to describe how I felt when Harvard sophomore Shilpa Yarlagadda sent me this text: "Michelle Obama is wearing our ring!" And then this one: "What should we do?" Shilpa is the 21-year-old founder of Shiffon Co. a jewelry brand she launched two years ago on the promise of a simple idea that so captured what was happening in both the fine jewelry world — and the world-world — that she seemed almost clairvoyant.

The idea was that her company, built off a single piece of jewelry, The Duet Pinky Ring, would help women around the globe. You can't even get to the rest of the website to look at what else Shiffon sells without first buying a Duet, so named because of the two small stones set closely together in representation of two women supporting one another. (They start at $90.) The purpose of making you slow down and consider why you're buying this ring before unlocking the rest of the site is the hope that you'll join them in their mission — and take their "Pinky Pledge" to support businesses that help women.