Surya is a small business based in Jervis Bay on the south coast of NSW, and run by founders Mel and Yo. Our two main passions are creating ethical clothing in Nepal, and heading off on new adventures in Nepal. We combined our two loves back in 2008, and we now travel to Nepal twice a year to design and perfect our sustainable clothing.
MEET THE FOUNDERS
We are Mel and Yo, the founders of Surya. The seeds of Surya were planted after traveling throughout Nepal during an extended stay in 2008. We had left the security of our long term jobs and spent one year traveling through Bali, India and Nepal. Yes, a teeny tiny bit late to have a gap year at the age of 30, but well ... we did it anyway.
We spent almost 3 months in Kathmandu and Pokhara, and just fell in love with the people and culture. When it came time to leave we couldn't imagine never going back so we decided to invest our last few dollars and begin a business trading with Nepal so that we had opportunity to revisit in the future. Little did we know!
Since our beginning in 2008 we have approached Surya with a single minded focus intent: to be able to provide regular, consistent employment to our makers while remaining true to our values of creating unique, sustainable, ethically made pieces.
Over time it became obvious to us that the more Surya grew, the more readily there was food on the table in local Nepali households.
This inspired us to reach greater heights; we operated at more and more events (now with two handmade set-ups), we delved into wholesale and trade events, we opened a store in 2014, and we began to invest hugely in our website. We were trying to take Surya as high as she could go ... the more we sold the more we ordered.
It's still our philosophy to this day.
"Ethical trade benefits the entire community through the empowerment of cottage industry producers" - Mel and Yo, founders
Learn more about our ethical trade with Nepal and the amazing people we've partnered with.
