Profession / role:

Founder

Company / organisation:

Tunique

Website (if you have one):

www.tuniquedesign.com

My primary role in relation to fashion is:

Designer

I am looking to discover or buy

Building relationships, Mentoring, connecting with buyers,

About me / About business or organisation:

Tunique is a sustainable and fair trade company. At Tunique, we hope to fashion a better world by providing a secure livelihood for women who work at our cooperatives. We believe fair trade is a novel way to change the world slowly but surely! It is a force of change at a micro level that has a potential to change lives of generations and uplift these communities on basis of their own strength, talent and hard work.


Our partners in India, provide viable working skills to women and run pro women saving schemes to economically empower them. They run schools to educate their children, homes for the aged and orphans and provide medical facilities. Their employee-friendly endeavors have been recognized by the SA 8000 certification, testifying to their compliance with internationally laid down Social Accountability standards.

We are launching Spring 2014 collection of organic and fair trade clothing for women and girls. We have used in our collection fairly traded GOTS certified organic cotton. Printing on our fabrics is done using only nature friendly and GOTS certified low impact dyes. Our collection is hand printed using either screen or block printing methods. We are so proud to be working with these incredibly strong women, who are reinventing their life and maybe for the first time dreaming of a safe and secure future for themselves and their kids. Our collection is contemporary in style with a purpose that gives voice to the independence and strength of these women.

Career history / Company history:

Tunique is founded by me, Aarti Menon, a wife , mother of two and a scientist by profession. After earning two masters degrees in Life Sciences and working in research for few years I decided to be home with my new baby daughter. I found the time to give voice to my creative side. On my trips to India I would scour the markets to find gorgeous handcrafted tunics to sell here in home exhibitions. Slowly this hobby grew into a deep passion. In 2013, it was realized as a business. I knew my business had to stand for something more than just selling beautiful clothes! So we made a commitment to be a fair trade and sustainable business. Our fair trade partners in India are internationally accredited as pioneers in organic and follow all the fair trade principles laid down by the Fair trade federation. Our beautiful clothing is designed here in the USA and made in India by underprivileged women who are paid a viable wage.