It was only four and a half years ago that Elisha Watson traded in her life as a litigation lawyer to start an underwear brand called Nisa. An unconventional career shift, it was motivated not by a love of lingerie or a dream of being the next Victoria’s Secret, but by a desire to generate opportunities for the women she had met.
During her time as a lawyer, Watson volunteered with the Red Cross and Community Law, working to help resettle refugees and recently arrived families. Her interest in this work was spurred by time spent living in Germany at the age of 20 and her experiences witnessing the heavy politicisation of issues surrounding asylum seekers and the hostility with which they were treated – an outcome she wanted to help avoid in Aotearoa.
But what Watson learnt during her volunteer work was that the one thing that was needed most by the women she was assisting was something that couldn’t simply be given: a job.
“The idea of social enterprise was picking up steam… and I thought that could be an awesome vehicle to provide some of the opportunities that people were looking for rather than going by the traditional charity model,” she tells me over Zoom from Nisa’s office on Wellington’s Willis Street. From the start, the brand – whose name comes from the Arabic word for ‘women’ – was founded on practicality.
“I decided to go with something sewn because I wanted to tap into a skill set that people in the community already had, and that was quite a frequent one with women.”
Watson picked underwear as their product for similar reasons: it took up less space in their tiny workroom, and was something that she felt people actually needed and that she could justify putting out into the world. This second point forms the other half of Nisa’s twin missions, people and the environment, and it serves as one of the brand’s key points of difference to their competitors. While companies from Calvin Klein to H&M are increasingly introducing sustainable lines or ‘ethical’ alternatives to everyday products, the unfortunate reality is that most of these efforts fall woefully short of meeting the definition of either word and are performative at best and outright devious at worst – wide-scale acts of greenwashing intended to deceive.
Not so with Nisa.
There is no hint of the airbrushing or aggressive sexualisation that is prevalent elsewhere in the industry, only normal bodies, complete with the curves and dimples that we all have but rarely see when we’re being sold undies.
Since the beginning, every pair of underwear Nisa sells has been made with certified organic cotton, and as the business has grown and branched out into swimwear and activewear, every effort has been made to ensure that their products reflect this commitment to the environment. Bikinis, sports bras, bike shorts and leggings are sewn from a regenerated nylon fabric made from recycled bottles and fishing nets, while New Zealand merino is used in Nisa’s socks, tank tops and t-shirts. In another earnest display of positivity, the models who wear the clothes do so with an honesty and naturalness that, if this were any other brand, might feel contrived. There is no hint of the airbrushing or aggressive sexualisation that is prevalent elsewhere in the industry, only normal bodies, complete with the curves and dimples that we all have but rarely see when we’re being sold undies.
The products themselves are beautiful, practical and beloved by customers – a quick glance at the hundreds of five-star reviews on their website confirms that – but it is this honesty that has propelled Nisa to its current success, seen it recognised as a SheEO venture, and rewarded Watson’s leadership and vision with a place on the prime minister’s trade delegation to Australia. As Nisa has grown, their customer base has broadened, enticed by the integrity of the brand’s mission – both social and environmental – and their refusal to rest on their laurels and be a single-issue company. Watson tells me that they are currently working towards B Corp certification, one of the most prestigious corporate standards in the world, held only by businesses that can demonstrate high levels of transparency, accountability, and social and environmental performance.
The next step in Nisa’s development is an expansion into Australia, a market that already accounts for 15% of their sales but which they are hoping to double. The challenge, Watson says, is communicating “a very local story in a way that has international appeal, or at least Australian appeal”. While the Nisa story may have started in Aotearoa, their goals and attitudes are sure to have global appeal and, in a world where consumers are increasingly conscious of the impact of their dollar, it’s hard to imagine a future where Nisa’s approach to business does not succeed.
Words — Nick Ainge-Roy
