 |
Monday, 4 September 2006 | Senay
Mehera Shaw Fashion House Puts Fair Made Femininity Off the Runway
 
Ethical Fashion "For The People": Mehera Shaw Fashion House Puts Fair Made Femininity Off the Runway and Into the Web Village
With New York Fashion Week just around the corner and ethical fashion becoming all the rage, many designers are rushing to add the sought after, bamboo evening gowns, hemp jackets or soy silk skirts to their collections. Around the globe designers are introducing the latest merger-haute couture and conscious consumerism.
But what about those of us with a conscience, an eye for style and a slimmer pocketbook? Ethical fashion is still struggling to find its way to the enlightened, yet more practical shopper. In the midst of pricey, often impractical eco-couture, Mehera Shaw, a family-owned fashion house, is fast becoming the clothing of choice for the conscious consumer. Shari Keller, designer and co-owner describes her line as, "a colorful, affordable, feminine, and unabashedly happy collection of blouses, skirts, and jackets that restore femininity, equity and environment."
 
Since its inception in 1999, the small fashion house has always had a vision for the sustainable future. Mehera Shaw designer, Shari Keller, makes fair made artisan wear using couturier stitching techniques and low impact methods of production. She uses mainly handblock printed cottons and handloomed cottons, often including vegetable dyes or low impact dyes and non bleached cottons as well as surplus cottons.
Shari has successfully refocused ethical fashion toward enduring style by making classic, feminine styles; making clothes for real women at affordable prices, and; making clothing in an ethical manner. "We are making 'enduring style' fashionable", says Shari.
Mark and Shari Keller, owners of Mehera Shaw have intentionally priced their line at affordable rates in an effort to keep the entire production more equitable, but also to develop a middle class customer base. Mehera Shaw collections target conscious consumers with normal economic means. Their prices range from $40-$90 for blouses and from $70-$90 for skirt and pants.
About Mehera Shaw
Until now, Mehera Shaw has been the amazing find tucked away in the Chapel Hill region's Carr Mill Mall. With the launching of their fall and spring web boutique, Mark and Shari are moving from small town to web village and proving that ethical fashion has a sustainable place among real women. The Mehera Shaw website offers a well-rounded collection of jackets, skirts, blouses and scarves with user-friendly navigation in an artfully feminine site. Co-owner and jewelry designer, Mark Keller also displays his upmarket and one-of-a-kind ethnic-antique silver jewelry collections complete with vivid descriptions of the history and mythology behind each piece. The site is also very informative as Shari and Mark take a vested interest in developing awareness about the history and methods of production of their artisan wear line.
Mehera Shaw, is also developing its own collection of stylish organic/fair made cottons. Organic cottons will be incorporated into seasonal spring/summer and fall/winter collections. Mehera Shaw plans to carry its new product later this year in its Carr Mill boutique in Carrboro, NC and on the web at http://www.meherashaw.com
|
|
|
