Hi! I am Neziah, I am 23 years old, I live in Kentucky, and I am the owner of Luna Morae Clothing. I am so happy that you want to know more about us and who we are as a brand! I will start out first by giving you a little bit of background information on me!
About Me
I am a 1st generation college graduate and it’s been my dream since I was 7 years old, to own my own clothing store. When I was little; I would draw different outfits and designs in a sketch book that my grandmother gave me, now, I am in no way shape or form a drawer (I am terrible at it) but my clothing store dream only developed further from there.
After graduating Highschool, I went straight to Community College, and I began thinking about what I really wanted to do in my life and who I wanted to be. My interests traveled from Forensic Pathology to Business and Marketing, to Psychology and then eventually to Women and Gender studies.
After receiving my Associates Degree, in 2019, I’d reached a new crossroads. It was too late for me to apply to a 4-year university for the fall semester and at that moment the part time Assistant-teaching job that I’d had during the year was out for the summer, so that lead me to having another talk with myself about what I really wanted to do. I realized that the one thing that I truly loved no matter what was going on in my life was clothing. I realized that I was spending hours and hours shopping on websites like Fashion Nova, Forever 21, H & M, and Boohoo. I was giving these big corporations all of my money but also, all of my free time sifting through; blouses, tank-tops, crop-tops, over-sized t-shirts and sweaters. I was struggling with ordering items that seemed perfect for me, only for them to arrive and be too small, too big or extremely uncomfortable. I’d been a plus-size girl since I was a teenager but even the sizes that I was finding never seemed to match correctly with my body type when I tried them on.
Then after one last long day of pointless online shopping, I remembered my dream. I remembered my sketch books, I remembered my 7-year-old self-sitting down on the floor with stencils and colored pencils thinking “This is what I want to be when I grow up, a Fashion Designer.” Cliché, I know but my mind could not eliminate that memory. So that summer, the summer after my Associates Degree I started to do some research about how to start my own online clothing boutique.
Prayer and Research
I’d watched hundreds of YouTube videos, read many legal articles and prayed so much about my future and about what God had for me until I came across a You-tuber who had started her own business online and who had step-by-step instructions on what to do and how to make it. I realized that this business owner was unique, completely transparent, and so helpful. I began to watch all of her videos and take detailed notes. Step 1, however was the hardest; Name your online business.
On this subject I had many long talks with the Lord. MANY. I wanted something original, something unique but also something that flowed well. I knew I wanted the name/word LUNA because I’d always thought that it was so pretty and I am 100% a night owl at heart. But for the rest of the name I had no idea until I thought more’. Honestly, I do not know completely where this idea derived from but instead of more with an apostrophe at the end I changed it to Morae.
I was so excited. I’d finally found a name and with my enthusiasm and new found inspiration, I started putting all of my plans into action: I filled for my business license, obtained my EIN number, purchased my domain and I began working on the website. Everything was going well, until I realized that I had no idea what clothes I was going to sell. I’d had so many issues with the clothes that I was buying from fast fashion brands that I knew I did not want my customers to ever buy something from me and experience the same thing. Then… I came across another video by the same You-tuber that I had been watching before. But this video was about MAGIC.
Magic
Before watching her video, I had no idea what Magic was. I had no idea what a tradeshow was, how you attend or what you do, but after learning more about it, as soon as I could, I booked my 1st flight out west, to Las Vegas Nevada. Magic is one of the biggest fashion tradeshows in the United States featuring Men, Women and Children’s Apparel, shoes and accessories. Magic is a three-day, wholesale fashion event that allows you to meet with different fellow business owners, wholesalers, and fashion inspirers to keep you motivated to continue developing your small business and your fashion market. My time at Magic always seems like a dream to me because it is truly heaven for anyone who is obsessed with clothes.
Through-out my experience, I was able to hand pick items from the best wholesale brands and place orders for Luna Morae. I was able to meet with so many up-and-coming businesses and business owners and witness many people in our world that make fashion happen. When I arrived back home I was more inspired then ever to start working on the grand-opening of Luna Morae and our mission as a brand.
Mission
Because I have always had a difficult time finding the right clothes for me, I knew that what I wanted to sell would include: cute, artistic, comfortable, and original clothing. I wanted clothing that would support many different aesthetics and styles and clothing that was durable and reliable. I wanted clothing that would allow people to be confident and relaxed, knowing that they are wearing their favorite item from their closet. I wanted people to find happiness knowing that the item didn’t come from a corporation or an industrialized business, it came from a local online boutique who supports all people whose mission is to provide; unique, comfortable, and artistic clothing to the creative souls that want it.
Fall 2022
Now to be completely transparent, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs that have led me to this moment. I could talk about moving from Kentucky, to Florida, to Tennessee then back to Kentucky. I could talk about the many jobs that I’ve had just to pay my bills and save up for the launch of Luna Morae. I could talk about my grandmother dying (yes the same grandmother who have me my first sketch book) or I could talk about my mom loosing her vision at the end of 2019. I could talk about Covid but I’m sure all of us really do not want to hear any more about that. But none of that, in this moment truly matters.
Maybe I will confess the difficulties of my life and everything that it took for me to get here, one day, but now, what matters is that my dream has finally came true.
Luna Morae finally exists, and you are apart of every aspect of it’s success. I always have so much to say about who we are and everything that it took for us to get here (and sorry if this ‘About Us’ sections was way more then what you were looking for, but thank you for supporting my 7-year-old dream.
Thank you for reading more about us and thank you for standing behind a company that allows everyday people to be confident in who, they are, what they do and what they wear.
Thank you for all of your love, interest, motivation, blessings and your support.
Always with love,
Neziah
If you want to know more about me! Follow my Instagram @ziahwithlove
If you want to know any more about Luna Morae email: Lunamoraeclothing@gmail.com