We’ve been using this tagline – cloth is culture – for a few years now. I’m going to start periodically featuring examples of what I mean by this: ways that cloth is integral to how humans “do” culture, particularly in a modern setting. – allie While we in the U.S. now mark Groundhog’s Day as a way […]
Our Story
Behind-the-scenes looks at the industry and our startup journey.
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Manuma in the press
Manuma founder Allie McConnell was recently quoted in a piece in Hartford Magazine by Caitlin Collins on the Pantone Color of the Year, Living Coral. “It’s flattering on literally everyone,” McConnell says. “It has a softness to it, which makes it more approachable than a true fire engine red. It definitely has a tropical feel, […]
The space around the body: 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale
I was very happy to learn that two women architects are curating the Venice Architecture Biennale this year (through November 25). Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, founders of Grafton Architects in Dublin, are this year's directors. Their chosen theme, Freespace, has a lot of ideas and values in common with our work in Manuma: […]
Shop with Manuma for World Fair Trade Day
Today is World Fair Trade Day 2018. Our Facebook shop is open, featuring a selection of handmade jewelry from our refugee artisan neighbors here in Hartford. You may also shop directly in our Shopify storefront, here. This partnership was formed to provide a wider market for our entrepreneurial neighbors. In that spirit of amplifying […]
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Video: Our first Manuma Salon conversation
A few weeks ago we inaugurated an occasional series of salon-style conversations with fascinating people in design and sustainability, hosted live on the Manuma Facebook page. A recording of our chat with Mary Ruth Shields, fellow Hartford-area fashion social entrepreneur, is now available on YouTube – and you can watch it here: […]
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For Earth Day, the why in Manuma
I realized recently that my fashion schooling was punctuated by several significant events– disasters, really– that mark the intersections of my values system as a citizen of the world and as a fashion designer. They were landmarks on the map that lead to me to build Manuma. Animesh Basnet […]
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January 7 is Distaff Day
The party's over. No more three-day weekends, it's time to get back to work. In European countries, on the day after Epiphany, women would get back to work with their wintertime occupation: spinning fiber into yarn using a distaff. It became known as Distaff Day. A woman possessed? Apparently letting an unfortunate fella have it […]
What’s it to me? Fair Trade Month
Solidarity Center For 2 years, I worked as a social work case manager, helping newly arrived refugees and survivors of human trafficking adjust to their new lives in the U.S. On a regular basis, my co-workers and I would discuss our work, new issues that came up with clients, new things we learned, but always circling […]