A Lockdown Success Story
A year ago during the first lockdown I was facing the highest peak of anxiety and depression that I have ever felt in my life due to a mix of the global situation and personal situation. To keep myself busy and distracted from it I decided to start knitting as it has always been something that relaxes me and brings me joy.
With a passion for craftsmanship and fashion design in mind and with the help of amazing life and business coaches I slowly started to think of building a high end handmade knitwear brand focusing on sustainability and self empowerment.
I struggled with my mental health my whole life and what happened last year was the worst and best thing that ever happened to me. It pushed me to face what was scaring me the most: my own thoughts and feelings. I learnt for the first time in my life to welcome and accept them instead of avoiding them and realised how harmless they were. Once I assimilated that lesson (which is still an ongoing process) it gave me the strength to pursue my goals.
A few months ago I made the decision to focus fully on building my brand called Nfôowear, a nod to my Cameroonian heritage, and I decided to quit my part time job too.
This year has been rich with experiences, I had my pieces displayed in a local pop-up store with other sustainable brands in Manchester. It felt like the recognition of all the work I have put over the past year and comforted me in the decision I had made. I also worked with a local professional photographer for the shooting of my first collection, I sold some of my creations in different parts of the world, I had an American creative artist & photographer wearing my clothes. On the personal side I went through a journey of self discovery and learnt so much about my inner strength and how to trust my intuition to get me where I want to go and create the life of my dream.
As far as I can remember I have always wanted to create my own clothing brand with which I could make a positive impact on the world. With this vision in mind I studied fashion design in my home country in France and had the opportunity to do so as well at the London college of fashion during an Erasmus programme. I then worked as a fashion assistant for a designer brand in London and a big retail childrenswear company back in France. 2 years ago I decided to move to Manchester to fulfil my dream of living in the UK and starting my clothing brand there. I had no clue how to make the second one happen and would have never thought at that time that it would become a knitwear brand.
I learned how to knit with my godmother when I was 10 and kept knitting on and off for fun or during my fashion design studies but I never really thought of creating clothes. It was always small bits of experimentation or accessories like book covers, scarves, beanies etc. So, when the pandemic happened last year I reconnected with this passion and started by doing very simple designs I was sharing on my Instagram page. I liked how it looked and thought that I could maybe sell them online. With positive responses from people it became clear to me that it was the path I wanted to follow.
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Nfôowear is a slow fashion high-end knitwear brand based in Manchester, UK and created
by Anuarita Morel, a French non-binary Fashion designer. The collections are handmade,
made to order and using 100% natural fibres. Nfôowear advocates for sustainability and self
empowerment.
Anuarita Morel | contact.nfoo@gmail.com | nfoowear.bigcartel.com
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