We recently caught up with Myint Aung in her Ponsonby Reca Boutique. We love her mission to bring beautiful and minimalistic products to New Zealand. Not only are these stunning, carefully selected pieces, but they are also made in a good and safe workplace by disadvantaged women who are able to build a better future for themselves. Reca uses quality materials, with the aim to design their range to be timeless and effortless, for the modern Kiwi woman.
Myint Aunt in her Ponsonby Reca Boutique
I really love the name Reca. Can you tell us how you came up with it and what it means? It was a long process, and I ended up working with Helen Mai (a girlfriend of mine who’s a graphic designer). She really understood our vision and what we were trying to achieve and helped us distil that into “Reca”. As soon as I saw the name and the simplicity of the explanation behind it, I just fell in love with it. It's a play on the word "care" which is what Reca is about. Caring about community and women.
What would you describe the Reca ethos as? A strong commitment to empowering women who have faced challenging circumstances.
What do you look for when working with brands and selling them? Making sure that their business focuses on treating people right in the process.
You also design. What qualities do you go for with your own designs? Effortless with a bit of personality
Will we see more of your own label in the future? In the next 3 months, you probably will see that 90% of our garments will be our own label.
Do you have designers, brands or activities that inspire you? When I design I try to think about how I can make women feel about the areas of their body they feel conscious about. After being in the Retail Industry for over a decade, I noticed that a lot of women feel conscious about their arms, this is one of the main reasons why most of our clothing have sleeves. My main goal is for women to feel great about their body in their day to day life.
As an ethical brand, what are some tips you have for xmas shoppers? I would encourage people to shop at their favourite small brands because it makes a huge difference to the business owners and their causes, even though It is much easier to go to the shopping mall to get all the gifts at one location.
You have a bunch of cool events coming up! Can you tell us a bit about that? We have a styling night with Johanna-May on the 7th Dec at our Ponsonby store and Reca's Christmas party on the 12th. There will be drinks & nibbles and will also get a sneak of our summer collection and some winter pieces.
Keep an eye out on her Social Media, for all the upcoming events details
