Denica Riadini-Flesch is an Indonesian economist transforming the fashion industry from one of the planet’s biggest polluters into a force for regeneration. As founder of SukkhaCitta, she’s pioneering one of the world’s first farm-to-closet supply chains — restoring ecosystems, empowering rural women and setting a new global standard for environmental justice.
In a sector driven by extraction, Denica is building a system rooted in care. She works directly with smallholder farmers and craftswomen to regenerate soil, eliminate toxic waste, and revive indigenous knowledge. From reintroducing heirloom cotton to inventing zero-waste, botanical dyeing systems, her approach merges ancestral wisdom with scientific rigor to transform degraded land into carbon sinks and rural women into climate leaders.
Her impact includes:
- Over 1,482 lives improved with living wages and education;
- 50+ hectares of soil restored through regenerative practices;
- Elimination of over 4 million liters of toxic dye waste from our water ways;
- Asia’s first fashion Net Zero target verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative;
- The world’s only fashion brand certified as Ethically Handcrafted™.
Recognized as a Rolex Laureate, Cartier Women’s Initiative winner, and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Denica’s work is not just a response to the climate crisis — it’s a reimagination of the economy itself.
Through SukkhaCitta, she offers a living blueprint for how industries can shift from linear exploitation to circular regeneration — restoring the Earth while redistributing power. It’s a model where growth no longer costs the planet, and where the future is handcrafted with care, equity and hope.
