We sit down with Jyoti Morningstar, founder of yoga and lifestyle brand WE-AR.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind WE-AR and how its ethos of eco-friendliness and sustainability is reflected in your clothing and accessories?
My inspiration for WE-AR came from my yogic practice. Yoga is a practical system that teaches us how to live in harmony with everything else. The name WE-AR is a universalising of the traditional mantra ‘so-ham’ which acknowledges ‘oneness’ or the interconnection of all things. This is the guiding ethos of everything we do at WE-AR which means we design and craft in a way that seeks to be harmonious for each individual and earth system along the way.
Your product range spans from yoga clothing to cashmere and yoga accessories. How do you balance the diverse elements to maintain a cohesive brand identity?
My intention is to design for people’s experience rather than a product category so whether we’re working on a full length cashmere cardigan or a pair of organic yoga leggings, we’re thinking about how you’ll feel wearing it. Each piece needs to grant total comfort as well as a touch of individuality that graces the wearer with a unique edge and an atmosphere of timelessness. We want people to treasure their WE-AR pieces, so our aim is to make favourite clothes that their owners want to always have on hand and to travel through life wearing.
How do you ensure that the online experience aligns with the peaceful and eco-conscious values of WE-AR?
We only have a couple of stores here in Aotearoa, and a couple in Bali, so our website is an important place for us to connect with our wider community. Our visual language aims to share our vision of living sun-kissed in love with the natural world. We avoid using aggressive sales tools and preference deep sharing about our values and practices in our ethos section. Impact data is shared via quantified animated graphics which are fed by third party life cycle assessment data for each garment. This means you can see the impact savings of your shopping cart before you check out. Our Sustainability Strategy and annual sustainability progress reports are published on our homepage so you can read about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we answer our phones and every email is answered by real humans who live and breathe WE-AR. We’re currently working on an all-new site that we hope will increase the aliveness of our online offering.
Your reward programme is highlighted on your website. Could you provide details on how this programme works and the benefits it offers to your customers?
Absolutely. Our loyalty programme is called KIN in acknowledgment that we exist because our community understands us. KIN is all about the perks – the more you engage, the more personalised and better the perks get! Members receive first notification of new collection drops, invites to activities and other stuff we’re getting up to, as well as first priority on limited edition product lines. Points are awarded for every purchase along with birthday treats and tier rewards. We aim to make KIN very fruitful as it’s our way of creating a gratitude circle to give back to our community.
What do you most love about having a WE-AR retail outlet in Waiheke?
Waiheke is our home island. It’s the mother rock of who we are and what we do. Our island community is vibrant and comprises passionate and creative people who understand the value of things made mindfully. Waiheke has supported WE-AR’s vision from day one and stood by us through the trickiness of lockdowns and other recent challenges. Our store team are all local and we relish the laidback, friendly fun of our regular community as well as the guests who flow through seasonally. Probably the most enjoyable aspect is that people are happier on Waiheke than they are in most places so working in the store is kind of like being at a party where everyone is having fun and we get to dress them for it!
