Jyoti Morningstar, designer and founder of WE’AR.
Jyoti Morningstar is the inspiring designer and founder of WE’AR, the ethical clothing brand whose pieces are made from 100% certified organic eco-luxe cotton and bamboo. Jyoti couldn’t find the type of clothing she wanted to wear so she founded WE’AR in 2008 and has gained a loyal following producing clever collections that are designed to take you from the yoga mat to the street. Her pieces are contemporary and intelligent while still being comfortable and easy to move in which is a key principle of her brand.
We caught up with Jyoti to find out more about her latest collection, what inspires her and what you would never catch her wearing!
Tell us about your latest collection?
Poniente is an experiment in softly assembled, elegant shapes. I wanted to create a collection that feels as though it’s just falling away from the body with no clinging or grasping. The feeling of soft textiles caressing sun-kissed skin is an emulation of warm, silken sand trickling across bare toes. The garments have been designed as individual statement pieces that layer to create more complex looks. I’ve worked with a muted palette that centres around the softest grey-infused pink, Rose Quartz. I’ve indulged my joy of the one-piece in this collection offering a series of them in simple neutral tones as well as a hand-dipped indigo fading to pure white. It’s just hitting the racks in our New Zealand and Bali stores now so very early days to feel our tribe’s response but our runway show as part of Fashion Weekend was really well received so I’m optimistic that Poniente will prove to be a summer love affair.
What made you become a designer?
I couldn’t find the clothing that I truly wanted to wear, so when I was considering what WE’AR should produce to test my academic and yogic theory around developing a truly sustainable fashion business, drawing a clothing line felt like such a beautiful fit. It was practically a relief to sketch out all my ideas and start sampling – suddenly I had the wardrobe I’d always longed to wear.
What inspires you?
The wild! I find it as much downtown as I do in nature. I love the density of creative expression that forms eco-systems of culture, thought and beauty. I love the way art and music cause us to flock together like birds of a feather and the deep satiation of complicity that comes with seeing and feeling your own questions and desires expressed by the extended global tribe in their events, design, craft, songs and stories.
Looks from WE’AR’s Poniente collection.
Describe your personal style and how it influences your brand?
I’m a total jet set/boho/yogi so for me elegance is in the seemingly not put together. I like subtle colour, natural materials and favour looks that feel thrown together but create ideal silhouettes and layered lengths. I love the unexpected and subtle reveal. Deconstructed looks that can transform from off-the-mat tomboy insouciance to casual elegance with the addition of heels and a measured bit of bling.
I design clothes I want to wear so this aesthetic of easy wearability and drawing out of natural beauty is the basis of each garment we create. Inevitably we all have parts of our bodies we feel shy or less than proud of about and although a lot of our yoga-wear is necessarily quite bodycon like, I purposefully cut our casual wear with an awareness of emphasizing common strengths and using textiles in a way that yield natural falls to create geometries that are flattering and forgiving whilst still having their own flavour and edge.
What wardrobe item should every woman invest in?
It’s still pretty chilly in these parts so I’m all about kickass boots and layers of cashmere sweaters. More than an individual item I’m all about investing in classic pieces made in beautiful unprinted textiles that can travel through multiple seasons – well cut organic cotton and denim paired with beautiful shirts and quality cashmere – that stuff doesn’t get old!
Do you have a style rule you always obey?
Volume is crucial to the final silhouette of a look so it needs to be applied specifically. Balancing volume with a ‘reveal’ created by fitted clothing or bare skin yields intrigue without giving the game away. Was it Jackie Kennedy who said, ‘Always leave them wanting more?’
Look from WE’AR’s Poniente collection.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
It’s always a thrill to hear someone in one of our stores who really gets what I’m doing with design and textile use – sometimes someone wanders in and you hear them sighing as they walk around looking and touching everything – this is such a beautiful compliment for me. So much of our work is done behind the scenes and some seemingly tiny details can be such complex problems to resolve like how to make a dress fall in this place without pulling on that seam or how to have the seam line run right there on the outer third of a woman’s thigh without having a seam run right along her butt. So when someone really sees and feels and appreciates what you’ve done and why you’ve done it… that’s complicity and that feels good.
What can’t you live without?
Good light, fresh air, yoga, music, friends and organic greens.
Finish this sentence – You would never catch me wearing…
Yoga wear made of out of plastic! I don’t get how otherwise intelligent people overlook the skin touch and health and environmental impact of wearing clothes made out of plastic compounds like polyamide and ‘luon’ –this stuff is toxic and takes hundreds of years to break down in our soil.
Images supplied.