Impactful Eco-Fashion by Jacques Louis

Our Mission

Jacques Louis is a sustainable clothing brand with a mission to raise environmental awareness among BIPOC consumers living in disadvantaged communities in the US and abroad. We aim to encourage consumers to adopt a lifestyle of health and sustainability. 

Funding will enable us to continue to implement free mentoring and design workshops that will ultimately help reduce poverty rates in underserved communities, alongside our nonprofit partnerships. We will also use this crowd funding to produce pieces and develop marketing strategies for black and brown consumers, which will lead them to adopt healthier habits. 

Problem? Solved.

Here's the problem: climate change and global warming disproportionately affect residents in disadvantaged communities. These communities lack the resources needed to survive natural disasters, to have access to healthy food, and adequate education. Subsequently, those living in low-income communities here in the US, for example, often live in overcrowded homes, lack strong structure and mobility. However, most sustainable fashion brands fail to market to these communities or address the direct effects of climate change here in the US. Not to mention low-income families earn less than half the desired salary to meet their most basic needs.

Not only does Fast fashion affect the environment, but the chemicals used in the production process are harmful to our bodies. Chemicals like formaldehyde and azo dyes are linked to cancer. Can you imagine how wearing clothing like this daily would affect the body? For low-income communities that lack funding and resources, consuming eco-friendly fashion should be a walk in the park. 

How can we encourage consumers living in disadvantaged communities and previous residents to be more aware of the health of their environment and the clothing they wear?

Our Solution

Regardless of your environmental, social, and physical attributes, one thing we all have in common is our love for design.  

Jacques Louis solves the problem above by providing a solution that:

1. Offers on-trend, high-quality clothing that is healthy for both our bodies and our planet. This enables residents of disadvantaged communities to bring environmentally conscious products into their homes. From a health and safety perspective, this helps balance out some environmental factors that disproportionately affect our communities.

2.  Builds transparent partnerships with community organizations allowing for the restoration of BIPOC communities both socio-economically and ecologically.

3. Facilitating free design strategy workshops and mentoring services for students and newly established business owners in disadvantaged communities, which would lead to the creation of a newly formed micro-economy in which creatives can have access to more economic opportunities. 

To date we have identified a market base that is interested in purchasing pieces from a brand whose products are healthy for the body, have a large product mix, bridge-luxury, cause-driven, and healthy for the environment.  Our brand is actively generating revenue and has worked with artists, activists and celebrity entrepreneurs.

Our Founder

Naika Colas is CEO and founder of the Jacques Louis fashion brand. She is a Queens, New York-based fashion designer of Haitian descent who holds the love for her parent's home in high regard when designing. Naika is a graduate of Pratt Institute and holds her Master's degree in Design Management. During her undergraduate studies, she studied biology and chemistry at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Naika has over 10 years of public and environmental health experience (working with government agencies in NYC). She has a wealth of knowledge about waste and health policies in NYC. This fall, Naika can be found teaching a design course at Parson's School of Design. She is a board member of a nonprofit organization in Haiti and mentors two college students in business and fashion design.

Her Caribbean roots and love of biological sciences have helped her remain environmentally sustainable, as she adheres to the ideals of supporting underdeveloped communities and developing economies. This clothing line is named after her deceased father, Jacques Louis Colas. The loss of her father, a poverty-stricken environment, and watching her immigrant single mother struggle as a child became the driving force behind her love of art and community development.

Our Target Consumer? Is that you?

Our customers are consumers who want to integrate environmentally sustainable practices into their lifestyle. They aim to support BIWOC-owned businesses, are interested in social activism, find it important to wear clothing made of natural fibers, are free thinkers, and vibrant millennials who work hard and love to dress to impress. (Consumer Empathy Map below)

Purpose-Driven Monetary Support

We are raising $20,000 on IFundWomen to finance our upcoming collections, branding efforts, and free business mentoring and workshops facilitated here in NYC and Haiti. This grant would allow us to continue to incentivize consumers living in disadvantaged communities to get familiar and comfortable with eco-solutions and waste management efforts.

Team:Work

• Carly Joseph - Content Manager. Carly works to create strategies to engage and build our brands presence on social media platforms Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
• Arissa Collymore - Design Assistant. Arissa assists our head designer with managing operations, key performance indicators and brand profitability.
• Anna McCraney - Manages the production of our pieces from sample -> full production here in NYC.

Thank You!

We have some really cool rewards for you to take part in on our campaign page below. We are offering mentoring hours for small business owners, marketing strategies, screen printing services, high-level branding evaluations, fashion design consultations, tangible products, and tailoring services. Thank you so much for your support in helping Jacques Louis grow into a successful business that promotes job growth for people in my community.  My father would be so proud of this work.

Find us on Instagram @JacquesLouisJLC and share our campaign.  SIMPLY WANT TO DONATE? Choose the first reward. (CLICK THE REWARD TAB ABOVE)

Have questions about a reward, the brand or you'd like to collab? (We love collaborations by the way!) Send us an email [email protected].

(ALL CLOTHING FEATURED IN THIS CAMPAIGN WAS DESIGNED AND CREATED BY ME, NAIKA COLAS)