NIA Clothing: A young designers vision to redefine "well-made" clothing.

NIA clothing is a sustainable and ethical clothing brand created in 2015 by Merica Kahn of New Jersey. Merica is a designer with a vision of creating a more sustainable future for fashion. All of the NIA garments are designed with versatility, style and comfort in mind. In designing her garments, Merica considers many factors including fiber type, cultivation, production, manufacturing and wear; with her focus on creating a product and brand that is ethical and as low impact as possible so you can feel sexy and smart in your threads.

WHY SHOP NIA CLOTHING…

Aside from being carefully crafted, all the styles are designed with the customer’s comfort in mind. The garments are designed to be breathable, ultra cozy and can be styled to be appropriate for the office or a night on the town! What more could you ask for? The first NIA collection was made entirely of organic, sustainable, humane Merino Wool and for the newest line, Merica is using jersey knits made from sustainable organic soy and cotton. Inorganic fibers have been linked to environmental issues like water pollution and landfill over flow, “so I stick to only organic fibers in my garments.” Merica has also hand selected a yarn supplier that utilizes a fully sustainable fiber cleaning process, allowing for the water that is used to clean the fibers to be recycled for drinking water. Merica feels, “it’s extremely important to be as low impact as possible.”

All of the garments are designed to be easy to mix and match for maximum wear, and pair effortlessly with pieces you already have in your closet. Through creating pieces that are so versatile and well constructed, Merica hopes to extend the wear life of her products, an important factor in sustainability. Her two newest pieces are a long sleeve crop top with a comfortable mock neck and an elegant maxi skirt with a modest side slit, adding a touch of sexiness. All of her garments are also made in Brooklyn, NY which allows Merica to oversee her entire production process. You can find out more about NIA Clothing online and shop by visiting www.shopniaclothing.com

AN INSIDE LOOK…

Q: What do you wish the average consumer knew about fashion the clothing they are buying?

A: I would have to say the environmental and human rights issues at hand.

Environmental Issues: Due to poor clothing quality and the culture of fast fashion, items are making their way to landfills so quickly. A lot of the fibers in our clothes are plastic derived or inorganic, these fibers do not break down in landfills so the problem keeps growing. As inorganic fabrics slowly break down they produce micro plastics that make their way into water sources, sea food and eventually back into our bodies. On the organic fiber side, when these articles of clothing make their way to land fill, they will break down but they may pollute the environment in a different way. Typically organic fibers do not have the right environment for decomposition which includes oxygen availability. In landfills, garbage is compressed constantly pushing out excess air and creating the perfect conditions for anaerobic bacterium. This bacterium, while breaking down organic matter, releases a byproduct of methane, a greenhouse gas credited with speeding the rate of global warming.

Merica’s Eco-Conscious Suggestion: Be more conscious of the way you handle your garments- and think about how you can re-purpose fabrics and garments once they become worn or torn. If something you have has a little tare, instead of throwing it out, try sewing it. If you are thinking about throwing away an item of clothing maybe you could donate the item and save it from going to landfill. It’s also important that people love what they are buying and could see themselves wearing it over and over in a bunch of different ways. If you aren’t going to get a lot of use out of a garment and you don’t absolutely love it, don’t buy it, this would cut down on clothing waste.

Human Rights Issues: As far as human rights issues are concerned, many oversea factories are not well managed. Factories can be dark, hot and poorly ventilated. Additionally, many employees are overworked, underpaid or underage; child labor is still an ongoing concern within the fashion industry. To learn more about this topic check out our blog post, “Understanding the Bustle behind the Who Made My Clothes Movement.” Preventing abuse or mistreatment of employees means working with people who are accessible and share the same values; currently Merica works with manufacturers in Brooklyn NY to maintain oversight of her production process.

STRUGGLES OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Q: What is the most difficult part of being a sustainable designer?

A: Trying to hit price points for customers while maintaining quality.

Merica: It’s a tough industry to be in. Fashion is very competitive and consumers want things faster and cheaper, if you’re not committed to a higher standard of operation, there are A LOT of corners that can easily be cut to make a product faster and for less. A sustainable designer is competing with brands that don’t care and are producing for less but I think consumers are becoming more conscious about their clothing choices and buying differently.

ABOUT MERICA KAHN - FOUNDER OF NIA CLOTHING

Merica grew up in Franklin Lakes, NJ and has always had a passion for fashion and the planet. “My parents are kind of hippies, so we were always health conscious and environmentally conscious.” Merica started her fashion journey at fifteen when she began taking her first courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. Later she attended FIT for production management and maintained a high focus on the business end of fashion. Although Merica grew up in a conscious household, the connection between fashion and sustainability did not come together for her until after college, once she had started working in the industry. As she began work within the industry, she started to learn more about fast fashion and became inspired to develop her own sustainable fashion line and create change within the industry.

As Merica became more involved in sustainable fashion, she began talking about it with others and was shocked to learn how little people knew about the existing issues within the industry. “It’s important for people to be aware of these issues and know that there are better options.” She dreams of collaborating with small artesian designers in impoverished areas to help them bring their products to market and boost their local economies. She wants to have a brand that operates with a strong sense of social responsibility and make ethical, sustainable clothing more accessible to consumers.

LOOKING TO LIVE A MORE SUSTAINABLE LIFE? TAKE MERICA’S ADVICE…

Don’t get down on yourself if you aren’t always perfect, “Sustainability has become a huge part of my life, but I struggle just like anyone else. There are definitely days I just want to grab a plastic water bottle on the go and just make life easier for myself…I think the important thing is that people are aware and do their best the majority of the time…If anyone is on the journey to live a more sustainable life, it can be tough, but I just try to take it one step at a time, do a little bit better every day and stay open to learning, there is so much to learn.”

ADVICE FOR BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS…

It isn’t always easy, but remember to enjoy the process. “At one point I was so focused on getting my product out I didn’t even know if I liked it when it was finished – it was just all about getting to the deadline and that’s all I got wrapped up in…Although it’s an extremely tough industry, I realized that I was only in a race with myself and I was the only one putting undue pressure on myself.”
Keep learning and be kind to yourself. Make sure that you are prepared to feel okay with failure, knowing that you learned something and you’ll be better next time, “keep learning, keep asking questions and keep working with different people, it will help you grow. Also remember to be kind to yourself, failure isn’t bad as long as you learn something and keep moving forward.
Stay open to feedback and critiquing. Feedback and critiques will only help you learn, “I have learned a lot from listening to feedback, it helps me understand my customers and grow as a designer and business person.”

To learn more about the fashion industry as it relates to social justice, sustainability and consumerism visit our previous blog posts…

“Fashion Forward. Can Consumers Push and Eco-Conscious Future for Fashion?”

Understanding The Bustle Behind The “Who Made My Clothes” Movement

Fast Fashion Facts - Think Fast, Think Again.