The Canadian Fashion Brand You Need to Know About

Earlier this month I attended a luncheon held by Nina Kharey, founder of NONIE, previewing the NONIE Spring/Summer 2020 collection. The collection itself is stunning, but more than that, there are a number of reasons why this brand is fantastic and why you need to know about them.

all images  from NONIE Spring/Summer 2020 runway imagery | Getty Images

Before I get to that though, let me talk about the lunch event. Nina gathered a group of women together who were either involved in fashion, the media, or the non-profit sector. At the lunch Nina Kharey was joined by selling author Rupi Kaur, and the CEO of Venus Et Fleur, Seema Bansal Chadha to panel discussion and a look into the inspiration behind the NONIE brand. It was described as a “celebration of women supporting women” and you could definitely feel that the energy in the air.

It was a beautiful event held at the penthouse rooftop of the NoMad hotel in New York City; which was a perfect location to allow everyone to mingle and view the new collection which was displayed at one side of the room.

pictured: myself and Venus et Fleur CEO Seema Bansal Chadha

The lunch was my second real exposure to the NONIE brand; I attended their first NYFW show last September. I knew I liked the brand last fall after seeing the classic and well-made pieces, but now I can say that I am a fan for life. There are 5 reasons why I think you really need to know about NONIE.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Know About NONIE:

1. The Collection is Beautiful
Quite simply, you need to know about NONIE because at the end of the day, it is a beautiful clothing line. The pieces are very timeless; they are items you will find yourself wearing season after season.

2. NONIE believes in Female Empowerment
Shockingly enough, it is rare to have a female CEO of a fashion company. Less than 13% of Fortune 1000 fashion companies have female CEO’s. (Compare that with 18% of female CEOs in finance related companies and 20% of CEO’s in aerospace and defense companies). Nina Kharey is not only paving the way for future female fashion CEO’s but she is committed to bringing strong women together – as the panel at the New York luncheon shows – to encourage communication and cooperation.

3. The Clothing is Made Right Here in Canada
NONIE clothing is all made in Vancouver, Canada. It’s really great to find designers taking initiative to produce clothing in Canada.  The fabrics used are sourced from a number of sources, but the majority of the fabrics come from Paris, Japan and Korea.

4. NONIE is Royal-Approved
If you haven’t heard of NONIE yet; you undoubtedly will as celebrities, including royal Meghan Markle, are fans. When Meghan wore this blush Nonie trench dress last summer, NONIE was launched into the international fashion spotlight.

5. NONIE Gives Back
For me, perhaps the most important reason to know (and love) NONIE is designer Nina Kharey’s commitment to using her brand and her fame to do good. I am always on the lookout for brands and companies that give back and support real change and improvement in our society and NONIE does just that with the #EndBullying campaign.

The #EndBullying campaign is a partnership with n TELUS’; who had already committed to making the digital world a friendlier place for Canadian youth. TELUS Wise, a free educational program established in 2013, offers workshops and materials related to digital safety and cyberbullying in partnership with organizations like PREVNet, MediaSmarts and WE.

Nina Kharey created a NONIE t-shirt to support TELUS’ #EndBullying campaign. The proceeds of this ‘Love Gives Freedom’ t-shirt will be given to the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. (To learn more about TELUS’ commitment to #EndBullying you can go to telus.com/endbullying)