An Intentional Fashion Brand Mindfully Expands Into Sparkling Wine

A trip to Thailand combined with the healing power of intentionality led a former model to establish a lifestyle brand that’s now branched out and has become a successful wine and tea brand.

BuDhaGirl Sparkling wine made its debut in February, and just six months into its debut, it has already sold out of its production.

Jessica James may have started her brand with bangles, but her mindful empire is expanding “First and foremost, I’ve always loved food, wine and tea,” says James. “For me, eating is a celebration, drinking is a celebration. Plus, the contemplative practice and meaningful rituals that are the bedrock of the BuDhaGirl brand are universally applicable to categories far beyond jewelry.”

“BuDhaGirl Sparkling brings the BuDhaGirl vision of mindful glamour into practice by creating celebration rituals that embrace the beauty of the present moment,” James adds. “We like to say, we didn’t invent ritual, but we bottled it.”

BuDhaGirl Sparkling, as a wine brand, is tapping into the $4.3 trillion that women spend annually on wine, according to Beverage Dynamics.

The whole idea for BuDhaGirl as a brand started with a trip to Thailand, where monks gifted James with bangles in exchange for alms, which gave James “this spark of gratitude and wonder. “I thought ‘what if women could merge fashion, ritual, and gratitude seamlessly into their daily lives?’” she says.

This was reinforced by James and her family’s journey when her son suffered from mental illness. “I started to see the power of the human mind and the potential for healing through contemplative practice as my son experienced mental health issues,” she says. “It seemed western medicine leveraged drugs and labels as an approach to cure him, and I thought there had to be a better way.”

James says she devoted her life to helping him heal. “We focused on meditation and setting intentions for the day, even something as simple as cleaning his room,” James says. “As we saw the difference this focus made, I was inspired to bring these insights into my daily life.”

That, she says, led her to wonder if she could create a brand about being mindful. “I thought people should know about the value of taking time to be intentional every day for themselves and to reset the brain,” James says.

Her first intentional product, the BuDhaGirl All Weather Bangles, came from the idea of setting an intention every morning when you put them on, then expressing gratitude for the day when you take them off. “The Bangles are a symbol of mindful living packaged in a pretty, fashionable vehicle,” James says.

“We have built the company around providing intention to people’s lives first via fashion and now consumables,” James says. “With BuDhaGirl Sparkling, we are capturing a whole new audience that is already primed to have a joyful experience.”

“We have built the company around providing intention to people’s lives first via fashion and now consumables,” James says. “With BuDhaGirl Sparkling, we are capturing a whole new audience that is already primed to have a joyful experience.”

James, who herself became a model at 14 and then had a successful career in retail, says that sparkling wine was a natural extension of her brand. “Sparkling Wine is a marker of wonderful celebrations,” she says. “We are moved to commemorate an event, no matter how small, by opening a bottle of drinkable starlight. It’s this practice that led us to start with sparkling wine.”

BuDhaGirl Sparkling started with two expressions – brut rosé and demi-sec, but it’s expanding this fall.

“This October, we’ll be adding to our sparkling wine portfolio with a small production 2021 vintage Napa Valley traditional method Sparkling Wine called the Dragon Slayer,” James says. “In a sleek package with a large golden dragon, it is a collector’s item. We will also be releasing sparkling wine in 250ml cans in time for spring 2025.”

BuDhaGirl also has a line of blended teas “Tea is such a natural fit for BuDhaGirl,” she says. “It’s part of who we are and our DNA. Taking a moment to enjoy a cup of tea is an establish ritual that consumers understand. Our BuDhaGirl teas are a journey through the day from morning, daytime, afternoon and evening.”