Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month: 58 Worthwhile Brands to Know
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month — a time to honor the contributions, resilience, and rich cultural heritage of AAPI communities across the United States. At Worthwhile Goods, our mission is rooted in conscious consumption, equity, and visibility. This month, we’re proud to highlight the AAPI-owned brands that are shaping the future of ethical, design-forward living.
Below, we’ll explore the origins of AAPI Heritage Month and share some of our favorite AAPI-founded brands in fashion, beauty, wellness, home, and lifestyle.
The History Behind AAPI Heritage Month
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month originated in the late 1970s as a weeklong observance. It became a month-long celebration in 1990, and May was officially designated as AAPI Heritage Month in 1992. The month was chosen to commemorate:
The arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the U.S. on May 7, 1843
The completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, built largely by Chinese laborers under grueling and dangerous conditions
While AAPI communities represent a vast spectrum of cultures—including East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander identities—they are often underrepresented in public discourse and retail spaces. That’s why visibility matters, especially for founders and makers building sustainable, community-rooted brands.
Worthwhile AAPI-Owned Brands to Support
Here are some of our favorite AAPI-owned brands, thoughtfully curated by category.
FASHION
Sandy Liang
Playful, nostalgic NYC streetwear meets femininity and function. Known for reimagining fleece, balletcore, and ‘90s prep through a distinctly Asian-American lens.
Find Me Now
A slow fashion label that designs small, considered collections with ethical factories. Vibrant, Gen Z-forward pieces with transparent values and inclusive sizing.
Suunday
Vietnamese-American owned; known for ethically made, relaxed linen silhouettes in earthy tones. Made in small batches for wardrobe longevity.
YanYan
Founded by Phyllis Chan and Suzzie Chung, this knitwear line blends traditional Chinese craftsmanship with experimental patterns and joyful textures.
SVNR
Christina Tung’s slow fashion line of hand-dyed silks and found-object jewelry inspired by global travel, memory, and minimalism.
Pepper
An inclusive intimates brand founded by Jaclyn Fu, made specifically for small-chested women. Focuses on fit, comfort, and confidence.
Cuyana
Karla Gallardo and Shilpa Shah co-founded this brand rooted in the philosophy of "fewer, better things". Known for minimalist leather goods and clothing produced responsibly.
Lezé the Label
Founded by Tanya and Karen, this brand creates workwear from recycled materials—designed to feel like loungewear but made for productivity.
Sundae School
A Korean-American lifestyle brand blending fashion, storytelling, and cannabis culture. Streetwear with strong cultural motifs and creative collaborations.
Notte Jewelry
Jessica Tse founded Notte Jewelry as an expression of whimsical, wearable joy. Handmade in small batches, her pieces blend nostalgia, pop culture, and slow fashion for a lifestyle rooted in creativity and individuality.
ADEAM
Hanako Maeda fuses New York energy with Japanese tailoring, creating luxury pieces that are refined yet architecturally daring.
Abacaxi
Sheena Sood’s label is a celebration of color, textile artistry, and heritage craft, often working with global artisans and drawing from her South Asian roots.
MONSE
Co-founded by Laura Kim, MONSE deconstructs classic tailoring into asymmetrical, high-fashion silhouettes. Bold and editorial.
Jacq
A small, emerging label offering sculptural, seasonless pieces. Created by Asian-American designer Jacqueline Liu, focused on material integrity and wearable art.
BEAUTY
Fur
Founded by Laura Schubert and Lillian Tung, Fur offers clean, dermatologist-tested body and hair care products that normalize and celebrate body hair. With a focus on inclusivity, the brand redefines grooming as a personal—not prescriptive—choice.
Everyday Humans
Charlotte Chen Pienaar launched Everyday Humans to make daily SPF and skin protection feel fresh, fun, and wearable. With lightweight formulas, clean ingredients, and playful branding, the line turns sunscreen into a skincare staple.
Cocokind
Founded by Priscilla Tsai, Cocokind is a clean skincare brand focused on affordability, transparency, and barrier support. With minimalist formulations and sustainability-first packaging, it challenges the idea that ethical beauty must be expensive.
Youthforia
Fiona Co Chan created Youthforia with the goal of making makeup that acts like skincare. Known for its color-changing blush oil and playful design, the brand emphasizes skin compatibility, joy, and bold pigment with plant-based formulas.
Tower 28
Amy Liu launched Tower 28 as a clean makeup line for sensitive skin. Designed to be non-irritating, fragrance-free, and dermatologist-tested, the brand also stands out for its inclusive shade ranges and community-first branding.
Then I Met You
Charlotte Cho draws on the Korean concept of jeong—a deep emotional connection—to create this skincare line rooted in ritual and care. Its award-winning cleansing balm and essence are part of a tightly curated, luxurious routine.
Tatcha
Founded by Victoria Tsai, Tatcha blends Japanese skincare rituals with modern clinical research. Known for its ingredient purity and philanthropy-driven business model, the brand centers gentleness, heritage, and longevity.
Live Tinted
Beauty activist Deepica Mutyala founded Live Tinted to challenge colorism and uplift underrepresented skin tones. With products like the HueStick, the brand champions inclusivity, multifunctionality, and self-acceptance.
Good Light
David Yi created Good Light as a gender-inclusive beauty brand centered on self-identity and skin wellness. With soft, minimal packaging and gentle formulas, it offers a thoughtful counter to the hyper-gendered beauty space.
Glow Recipe
Sarah Lee and Christine Chang co-founded Glow Recipe to bring K-beauty innovation to a global audience. Their fruit-forward, clinically active skincare has helped redefine what fun and effective beauty can look like.
Sahajan
Lisa Mattam founded Sahajan to reconnect modern consumers with Ayurvedic wisdom. Using ancient Indian ingredients and clinically validated results, the brand offers a luxurious approach to skin and body care.
Mixik
Created by Dr. Lamees Hamdan, Mixik bridges Eastern herbal traditions and Western dermatological rigor. The brand focuses on natural actives, inner-outer wellness, and sustainable sourcing.
Kulfi Beauty
Founded by Priyanka Ganjoo, Kulfi Beauty celebrates South Asian culture through bold color cosmetics. Its creamy eyeliners and joyful branding reclaim cultural narratives around beauty and self-expression.
Jin Soon
Jin Soon Choi is a renowned editorial nail artist whose namesake brand offers clean, richly pigmented nail polishes. Her 10-free formulas are beloved in both fashion circles and minimalist self-care routines.
Sundays
Amy Ling Lin created Sundays to merge non-toxic nail care with mindfulness. The brand offers vegan polish and at-home kits, as well as in-studio services rooted in calm, wellness, and intentional beauty.
Squigs
Founded by Manisha Pandey, Squigs is a hair and scalp care brand inspired by South Asian oil rituals. Its fun, science-backed formulas promote scalp health and celebrate cultural traditions around hair care.
Phlur
Creative direction from Chriselle Lim helped relaunch Phlur as a clean fragrance house with cult-favorite scents and strong storytelling. Its gender-neutral perfumes use transparent, ethically sourced ingredients.
WELLNESS
Rael
Founded by Yanghee Paik, Aness An, and Binna Won, Rael began as a clean feminine care brand and has since expanded into skincare and wellness. The company blends K-beauty innovation with U.S.-based safety standards to offer non-toxic, effective products for every phase of a woman’s cycle.
Golde
Trinity Mouzon Wofford and Issey Kobori created Golde to make wellness more approachable. Their superfood-based powders and skincare blends—like matcha, turmeric, and collagen boosters—are designed to be fun, functional, and accessible for everyday routines.
Apothékary
Shizu Okusa launched Apothékary to bring plant-based medicine back into modern health. Known for its adaptogen-rich blends like “Chill the F* Out” and “Slay All Day,” the brand merges ancient wellness traditions with contemporary formulas.
Cocolab
Founded by Vanessa Ting, Cocolab is a minimalist supplement line focused on gut health, immunity, and stress resilience. Each capsule features targeted, research-backed ingredients without filler or fluff.
Hey Freya
Jennie Yu created Hey Freya as a wellness brand that supports burnout recovery and emotional balance through supplements and rituals. Products like adaptogenic mood drops and breathwork prompts reflect the brand’s whole-self approach.
Wildwonder
Rosa Li developed Wildwonder to celebrate gut health and Asian heritage through sparkling, functional beverages. Inspired by her grandmother’s traditional healing tonics, the brand blends prebiotics, herbs, and botanicals into refreshing, ready-to-drink wellness sodas.
HOME
The Sill
Founded by Eliza Blank, The Sill helped spark the modern houseplant movement. Known for making plant care approachable, the brand combines thoughtful design with educational resources to help urban dwellers reconnect with nature.
Our Place
Shiza Shahid co-founded Our Place to celebrate cultural connection through cookware. With products like the viral Always Pan and a focus on multifunctionality, the brand centers shared meals, sustainability, and inclusive storytelling.
Blueland
Sarah Paiji Yoo launched Blueland to eliminate single-use plastic in household cleaning. Their refillable tablets for everything from hand soap to surface spray combine clean formulas with elegant, low-waste packaging.
Cadence
Founded by Steph Hon, Cadence creates sleek, magnetic capsules for storing personal care and wellness items at home or on the go. The brand brings sustainability and systemized calm to everyday routines through smart, modular design.
Material Kitchen
Eunice Byun co-founded Material to create beautifully minimal, high-performance kitchen tools. With responsibly sourced materials and a focus on simplicity, the brand encourages conscious cooking and intentional design.
Onsen
Founded by Jimmy Wu, Onsen reimagines the bath towel using traditional Japanese weaving techniques and modern minimalism. The brand prioritizes quality, functionality, and a spa-like home experience.
Woon Essentials
From the family behind Woon Kitchen, this Chinese-Malaysian-American brand offers cookware, utensils, and home goods designed for comfort and authenticity. Woon Essentials reflects a blend of utility and cultural storytelling.
Bookhou
Arounna Khounnoraj runs Bookhou, a multidisciplinary studio that creates hand-printed textiles, wooden objects, and functional art. Her work combines slow design principles with subtle beauty for everyday living.
LIFESTYLE
Diaspora Co.
Sana Javeri Kadri founded Diaspora Co. to radically reimagine the spice trade. By sourcing directly from South Asian farmers and prioritizing equity, the brand champions single-origin, high-potency spices that support regenerative agriculture and food sovereignty.
Tea Drops
Sashee Chandran created Tea Drops as a mess-free, dissolvable loose-leaf tea that fuses Eastern tea traditions with modern convenience. The brand promotes sustainability, ritual, and accessibility in equal measure.
Omsom
Founded by Vietnamese-American sisters Vanessa and Kim Pham, Omsom brings bold Asian pantry staples to the American kitchen. Their flavor starters make it easy to cook restaurant-quality meals while honoring heritage and identity.
Fly By Jing
Jing Gao launched Fly By Jing to share the bold, umami-packed flavors of Sichuan cuisine with a global audience. Her chili crisp and condiments are rooted in tradition, elevated with a modern, unapologetic voice.
Bokksu
Founded by Danny Taing, Bokksu curates premium Japanese snack boxes sourced from centuries-old artisan makers. The brand combines food discovery with cultural education and storytelling.
Brightland
Aishwarya Iyer created Brightland to bring transparency and taste back to the olive oil and vinegar market. With California-grown ingredients and beautiful design, the brand elevates the everyday act of cooking and eating.
Sanzo
Sandwiched between sparkling water and Asian flavor nostalgia, Sanzo was founded by Sandro Roco to spotlight Asian fruits like lychee, calamansi, and yuzu. It’s a refreshing bridge between identity and beverage culture.
One Stripe Chai
Farah Jesani launched One Stripe Chai to honor her roots with a South Asian-led, small-batch chai brand. Their blends feature direct-sourced Assam tea and traditional spices with modern appeal.
Rooted
With Filipino-American co-founders, Rooted helps city dwellers reconnect with nature through easy-to-care-for houseplants and a lifestyle rooted in growth. Their brand bridges plant care with personal wellbeing, cultural connection, and environmental awareness.
Boy Smells
Co-founded by Matthew Herman and David Kien, Boy Smells creates gender-expansive fragrances and candles. Their signature blends blur the line between masculine and feminine, queering scent culture and design.
Skylar
Founded by Cat Chen, Skylar offers hypoallergenic, clean perfumes designed for sensitive skin and modern sensibilities. With safe ingredients and light, wearable scents, the brand promotes mindful, daily luxury.
Aerangis
Alicia Tsai created Aerangis to capture memories through scent. Inspired by her grandfather’s orchid greenhouse, the brand offers elegant, sustainably made candles that evoke personal rituals and botanical calm.
Nette
Carol Han Pyle founded Nette to reimagine candles and fragrance as clean, elevated rituals. With refillable glass vessels and non-toxic ingredients, the brand combines sensory luxury with sustainability.
How to Support AAPI Brands Year-Round
AAPI Heritage Month is a reminder—but not the limit—of when and how to support AAPI-owned businesses. Here’s how to stay engaged year-round:
Follow and amplify AAPI creatives, founders, and artisans on social media platforms
Choose to shop AAPI-owned, especially when gifting or restocking essentials
Learn the history behind the brands you love—culture informs craft
Push for representation in the brands and platforms you follow
Representation matters—especially when it shapes how we live, what we wear, and the spaces we create.
