The amount of clothing created each season can well surpass our imaginations. However, there is always a collection by a brand that sticks out and remains vivid in our minds, whether it’s for their well-crafted debut or an outspoken stand towards the fashion industry. One such brand is AOUI Clothing and its innovative founder, Tanya Ramlaoui. As much as we have a love for fashion, the production of it is the second largest distributor to pollution in the world. Now, this isn’t a pretty thought, we know. But here at Cliché, we don’t only want to show you the latest styles that you need to have; we also want you to be aware of the clothing that you are purchasing and the effect it has on the world.
Ramlaoui keeps just this in perspective with the make and distribution of AOUI. You can actually see the care and love that goes into these “Made in LA” tops, dresses, pants, and more. Each piece of clothing in the collection is crafted with local, recycled, high-end material made to be sustainable for lifetime wear and is caring to our environment.
The movement of ethical fashion is meant to make the world a better, healthier place while providing us with eco-friendly garments that are still on trend, but even more unique. AOUI is an active member of this movement with their enriching designs that not only look good, but make you feel good when purchasing and wearing them. We had the honor of speaking with Tanya Ramlaoui to learn more about her beautiful clothing line that has an equally beautiful message.
Cliché: The name AOUI is definitely original and one-of-a-kind. Where did you get the idea from? Does it stand for something?
Tanya Ramlaoui: “Aoui” is the last four letters of my family name, Ramlaoui, which is a Lebanese name. One of my favorite things about Lebanon is how it is a place of great natural beauty where East and West collide, making the country both unique and timeless. As a contemporary clothing line, AOUI is in many ways a reflection of this heritage, striving to create clothes that are beautiful in their simplicity with a timeless style.
Each collection you present is always trendy, modern, and on point. How do you go about choosing what pieces to create? Are there certain ones that are your favorites?
Thank you; what a compliment! I truly get inspired once we begin sourcing fabrics. I start sifting through a giant warehouse, scissors in tow, and swatching everything that jumps out. From seeing and feeling the fabrics, a lot of ideas come out then.
As a season begins to take shape, I certainly have my favorites, but I’m always surprised just how often this changes throughout the process. Even post-production, seeing how women style and wear an outfit makes every garment unique, so my personal favorites are always evolving.
We absolutely love how eco-friendly your brand is. It helps support the ethical movement and proves that the fashion industry can keep nature in mind while creating on-trend clothing. What inspired you to take AOUI in this direction? Have you found any challenges in doing so?
So much of our community today is about sustainability—not just with the global ecology, but within our own lives, too. I believe our lives should be well-aligned, so personal goals should fit well with the goals of the type of society we’d like to be a part of. It was always important that AOUI be beneficial not just for the women wearing our clothes, but also for our community at large.
We source and sew our apparel here in Los Angeles, and there are certainly challenges to this eco-friendly approach. We can’t always use the fabrics we want, or source them in enough quantities to meet demand, but we see it as a part of the trade off. The challenges add uniqueness to the clothes, so it’s something we embrace.
What do you believe is AOUI’s impact on women?
We meet a lot of women who want to feel good about the clothes they buy. Not just how the clothes look and feel, but we also see more and more people concerned about the impact their buying decisions have on the world. We see AOUI as fulfilling a niche for women who are eco-conscious but don’t think that means compromising fashion. The positive impact we can have, both AOUI and customers together, is something we see as a shared process.
Your brand is constantly growing with each collection. What do you see in its next chapter?
We sell in boutiques across the country, and those relationships are an essential part of our business, providing indirect feedback from our customers. However, we’ve just launched our online boutique, so we’re excited about working directly with customers and getting to know them even better. We hope to continue to expand our line, growing the number of garments made each season, adding new pieces, accessories, etc. As a designer, I’m always learning and evolving. Seeing how the collection grows from an artistic point of view is a big unknown, which always makes the process more fun.
Help make not only the world we live in, but the fashion world we love so much, a better place and head over to aouiclothing.com to purchase your own feel-good pieces today!
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AOUI Clothing: Clothes Crafted With Love: Photographs courtesy of AOUI Clothing
