Eileen Wada Willett

Founder of the East Asian Girl Gang, Eileen was born in Vancouver to Japanese parents, trained in fashion in Paris and San Francisco and worked at Billboard in Tokyo before settling in London working at Nicole Farhi where she helped grow the menswear brand. She launched the multi-award-winning Cucumber Clothing brand with her Co-founder in 2017 making ‘luxurious clothing for everyday’, using ultra-soft technical fabrics. She formed the East Asian Girl Gang during the pandemic, an informal sisterhood and supportive space to share thoughts and experiences based on a common cultural and ethnic heritage and to increase visibility of this community. She was shortlisted for the 2020 Asian Woman of Achievement Awards and is a regular speaker and runs events on female entrepreneurship/East Asian community. She co-hosted i:Entrepreneur’s Wednesday Lives series of interviews with entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Eileen acts as Board Director for the charity Sesame Organisation. She mentored multiple entrepreneurs on their journeys either through structured programmes or on an unofficial, pro-bono basis.