The odd couple
Home » Blog » Annabel McAleer » The odd coupleWe're big fans of fair trade yoga-wear label We'ar … but why do we have have George W Bush to thank for it?
Photograph by Chris Skelton
The Celsias supplement in the latest Idealog carries the story of the unlikely partnership between yogi Jyoti Morningstar and business guru Stefan Preston.
Here's an excerpt:
Fans of yoga clothing label We’ar may well have George W Bush to salute whenever they pull on a pair of its comfy cotton pants for a spot of downward dog. If not for the wily Bush’s resilience, Jyoti Morningstar might never have been motivated to found her boutique brand. In 2004, Morningstar was living in Wellington teaching yoga at her studio to like-minded souls when, within a matter of months, Bush, John Howard and Kerry Prendergast were all successfully re-elected.
Shocked at this result—she had really believed the world was on the cusp of change—she decided to sell her studio and leave her “yoga bubble”. There was work to be done. “It made me realise the world was not as I thought it was,” Morningstar says. “I was really out of touch.”
And here's how she met Stefan:
Icebreaker founder Jeremy Moon introduced Morningstar to Stefan Preston, the former chief executive of Bendon, who is now running his own business consultancy Ingenio. Preston was interested in working with small creative startup companies, though his priority was to take on projects that would allow him to spend time with his family.
Preston says he was immediately impressed with Morningstar’s authenticity and purpose, and shared her belief that eco-oriented businesses did not have to be sanctimonious and dull. “This is the great problem of eco-brands and why, I think, for the most part, they are really non-resonant and about as interesting as a bearded Coromandel farmer. The whole green movement is boring … why can’t an eco-business be about abundance and be sexy? I think that’s an interesting conversation.”
Too right!
