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You are here: Home / Yoga Articles / Teaching • The Business of Yoga / Yoga & Community / Bodha Clothing commits to manufacturing yoga clothes in New Zealand

Bodha Clothing commits to manufacturing yoga clothes in New Zealand

March 25, 2011 by Kara-Leah Grant 10 Comments

Emily l'Ami, creator of Bodha Clothing

Emily l'Ami, creator of Bodha Clothing

See the end of this article for the chance to win one of Emily’s garments.

It’s tough for a clothing manufacturer to make her clothes in New Zealand but Emily L’Ami of Bodha Clothing was determined that her new range of yoga clothing all be home grown.

“New Zealand’s manufacturing sector has been ravaged and finding someone with the skills to sew knit fabrics has been the hardest part of the process,” says Emily.

Keeping production in New Zealand was important though, because Emily believes that yoga clothing has to reflect the ethics of yoga itself.

“In selecting fabrics I weighed up the impact (on humans and the environment) of the fiber being grown, manufactured and distributed, as well as the qualities (eg breathable, shape retention and durability) for the end user,” she says.

“Often when you look at the whole life cycle of the fabric something that sounds great on the surface (eg bamboo) is actually just as bad (if not worse) than anything else.”

Despite the extra care and attention taken over fabrics and manufacturing, Emily has still managed to keep the clothing affordable. Most garments are currently priced between $70 & $125 (currently available from the Eco Yoga Store online.)

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1. What inspired you to get into the yoga clothing business?

At the heart of it yoga inspired me.

Yoga has been an amazing friend and teacher to me over the years. As my passion for yoga grew, so too did my desire for stylish, comfortable, natural clothing I could practice in.

Once the bud of the idea was planted I felt a strong yearning to explore it. I dreamt of creating beautiful clothing that inspired women to practice and enhanced and supported their journey.

2. What makes great design for yoga clothing?

I think great yoga clothing reflects an understanding of the practice and balances aesthetics with function. It enhances women’s natural beauty and supports their practice. It looks and feels simple while being underpinned by considerable thought, testing and refinement.

Our initial design process began by sending out a little survey to which we got an overwhelming response.

Women knew what they wanted, which was to look good and feel comfortable while being supported and covered in all the right places. We made a real effort to reflect these things and ensure each piece was stylish, functional and versatile.

3. What’s your manufacturing process and why do you do it that way?

The design and development process is very hands on and literally takes a small community. There are fabric and trims suppliers, a pattern maker, cutter, outworker, designer, and lots of wear testers.

We start with a mood-board visually bringing together the colours, textures, fabrics and feelings we want to create. I then work with my pattern maker to develop a draft pattern and a first sample which we refine until we’re happy. Then I work with my outworker to look at construction options and sample again to test fabric, trims and construction.

Both my pattern maker and outworker have been instrumental in the range; they have lots of experience and offer great insights and feedback along the way.

Working with stretch fabrics is a bit of an art and unfortunately there is very little skill and knowledge left in New Zealand.

I worked with three factories (and visited numerous others) before finding my outworker (an independent sewer).

Even though doing it this way takes quite a bit longer I think the quality is worth it.

4. What’s the toughest aspect of starting up a clothing business from scratch?

The toughest aspect was starting and the next toughest is keeping going!

There are the practical things, like learning the language of the fashion industry and of business, and then there are the personal things like learning how to talk back to the constant voices in my head that say;

this is never going to work, give up now.

Bodha would be impossible without the support and encouragement of my husband Fred (our photographer and design guru), friends, family and in some cases total strangers.

Some great New Zealand designers have helped me refine design and fabric decisions, a number of yoga teachers have given time to test the range and others like Jeremy Moon from Icebreaker have been so kind as to give me business advice.

5. What’s the response been to your clothing?

The response has been amazing!

We did a soft launch at Peter Sanson’s annual yoga workshop in Gisborne, which draws a big international group of yogis including lots of teachers. The range got a real workout in the Gisborne summer and the feedback was great. A number of teachers have offered to hold Bodha events at their studios, including one in Stockholm!

I feel very humbled by and grateful for the support and encouragement I have received including from you Kara-Leah. Thanks for the opportunity to reflect on this journey and for creating The Yoga Lunchbox, it is a great forum for the community and much appreciated by us all.

Bodha Omae Keyhole Tank in grass

Bodha Omae Keyhole Tank in grass

Want to win one of Bodha Clothing’s gorgeous garments – this Bodha Omae Keyhole Tank (available in grass or stone)?

Tell us why you need a Bodha Omae Keyhole Tank. We’ll pick the best answer and pop one in the mail for you.

Just leave a comment below, or send a tweet with @YogaLunchbox, or comment on the Facebook link to this article. You’ve got until Sunday March 27th @ 6pm, NZ time.

To see more of Emily’s range, check out her website Bodha Clothing.

To purchase Bodha Clothing, check out the EcoYogaStore.

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Filed Under: Yoga & Community Tagged With: bodha clothing, competition, emily l'ami, yoga clothing

About Kara-Leah Grant

Kara-Leah is an internationally-renowned writer, teacher and retreat leader. Millions of people have been impacted by the articles, books and videos she has published over the last ten years. Her passion is liberation in this lifetime through an every day path of dissolving layers of tension into greater and greater freedom and joy. You can find out more about her, including when her next retreats are, on her website. Kara-Leah is the visionary and creator of The Yoga Lunchbox.

Comments

  1. claire hurwitz says

    March 25, 2011 at 9:53 am

    Hello-

    My name is Claire Hurwitz. Lovely article and top! I am spending the year in New Zealand training to be a yoga instructor at the Hot Yoga studio here in Wellington. I have left my home in the states with very little clothing and money. I came with my partner and just our two backpacks. I could only pack very minimally so for an entire 6 month training I only have two yoga bottoms and three tops. And I have to be at class 5 times a week! I could really use and would love and put to good use a Bodha Keyhole tank. I love the grass color! I also will be teaching community yoga classes in Wadestown where we are renting now. It would be a good opportunity to show of the shirt in front of my students.
    Thanks for considering me and offering this great prize.

    Claire Hurwitz

    Reply
    • Emily l'Ami says

      March 26, 2011 at 3:24 pm

      Hi Claire,

      what a great story and what a big brave decision to make! I really hope your training is going well and you are enjoying your time in New Zealand.

      You are definitely in the draw and fingers crossed you’ll be able to add the Omae keyhole tank to your yoga wardrobe.

      Have a great weekend and kind regards,
      Emily

      Reply
    • Kara-Leah Grant says

      March 28, 2011 at 7:42 pm

      Hey Claire,

      Congratulations! You won 🙂 I’l organise with Emily to get the tanktop to you, and I hope it does you well through your Hot Yoga teacher training.

      Blessings,
      KL

      Reply
      • claire hurwitz says

        March 31, 2011 at 5:23 pm

        Thanks so much!

        Reply
  2. jenifer parker says

    March 25, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    it’s really lovely and i’m so glad to see that there is such a conscientious way of creating and manufacturing clothes.

    i don’t need any more clothes, btw, so don’t enter me in the contest, but i’d love to speak with you about some possibilities of our businesses working together in some way. 🙂

    Reply
    • Emily l'Ami says

      March 26, 2011 at 3:12 pm

      Hi Jenifer,

      thanks for your thoughtful message. What you have created with Healium and the philosophy behind it looks amazing.

      I would love to catch up and see if there is any way we can work together to support people on their journey. I’ve sent an email to your business address but if you want to get in touch my email is emily@bodhaclothing.com

      Kind regards,
      Emily

      Reply
  3. Anna Adams says

    March 26, 2011 at 9:35 am

    I love the concept, design and that grass colour is smoking! It is interesting that the Bodha will be in a Stockholm studio (this is where I live now)…is there interest in retailing here?? I would be delighted to wear and own such a thoughtful and beautifully crafted garment. However I dont think my need is greater than the student teacher Claire :). But I would be really interested to know where/if I could buy Bodha clothing here in Stockholm, happy to shop online otherwise….I am already propping up NZ retail from my laptop from here!!
    Thanks for the article, and Emily L’Ami for the giveaway 🙂
    Anna

    Reply
  4. Emily l'Ami says

    March 26, 2011 at 12:59 pm

    Hi Anna,

    thanks for your great message. I hope you’re having a nice day over there in Stockholm and how neat that you’re reading the Yoga Lunchbox!

    The studio is the beautiful Yogashala Stockholm http://www.yogashalastockhom.se. It is owned and run by two sisters Lisa and Lotta Lalera. I had the please of meeting Lisa’s partner Bill (also a teacher in Stockholm) last year at a workshop. Bill got Lisa on skype and she selected some pieces for her and her sister to try. They have enjoyed wearing them so much we are currently working together to figure how to bring Bodha to Stockholm.

    If you’d like me to let you know about any development just send me an email (emily@bodhaclothing.com) and I’ll get in touch.

    Kind regards,
    Emily

    Reply
  5. Claire Slee says

    March 14, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    Hi

    I just love your website and your story. I hope you don’t mind me asking you but I’m trying to source info and finding it very hard and was wondering if you were able to suggest anything.

    I’m wanting to start a baby clothing line using a NZ clothing manufacturer. Do you know any that would do this still? I read about how you struggled to find anywhere to make your gorgeous clothes in NZ. I’d love any advice you have on this subject as I’m keen to get going soon. But just can’t find a manufacturer yet. Any suggestions?

    Have a fab day! And thank you so much in advance if you can point me in any direction.

    Reply
    • Kara-Leah Grant says

      March 23, 2015 at 11:50 am

      Hey Claire,

      Emily has moved to the States, I would suggest contacting her directly through her website to get an answer to your question.

      Many blessings,
      Kara-Leah

      Reply

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