Mintee
Mintee Kalra draws upon her varied education in bespoke tailoring and Indian cultural upbringing for her lifestyle line, Mintee.
Among the pieces in Kalra’s line are a silk burlap and silk chiffon tailored dress, a yoga-friendly jumpsuit with hidden pockets and an assortment of beaded necklaces. Kalra said stones in the necklaces have healing powers.
Dyan Nispel, the buyer for Dyan et Selima on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, Calif., was drawn to the “softness and the fluidity” of Mintee’s dresses, which are designed to be worn casually with flip-flop sandals. “It’s really beautifully made,” Nispel said. “I think they would go for a lot of different body types. Her dresses are feminine but not overtly sexy.”
When it comes to technical training, Kalra is a schoolgirl nerd. She holds degrees in fine arts from Central St. Martins, fashion design and women’s tailoring from the London College of Fashion and a certificate in bespoke tailoring from the University of Westminster, all in England. But the highlight of her education was working as a design assistant/intern and helping in the construction of editorial and showpieces for British designer Alexander McQueen.
Though working with McQueen was awe-inspiring, Kalra returned to her native California for a more relaxed way of life. Her work on the board of the Divine Shakti Foundation, which is in the process of rebuilding three villages in Tamil Nadu, India, that were devastated by the tsunami in late 2004, inspired her to create Mintee. The foundation will provide vocational training in such trades as tailoring and jewelry making, and employ local people in a factory that is scheduled to open in five years. Kalra plans to move some of Mintee’s production to the new factory.
“Women are always going to be buying clothes and they’re always going to be fashionable,” Kalra said. “I think it’s important that that need for consumption and the thirst for capitalism that we have in this country is leveraged in a way where people who wouldn’t necessarily have the chance to benefit fromit, can.”
Wholesale prices for the line range from $30 to $250.
For information, call (213) 627-9811 or visit www.mintee.net. —Rhea Cortado
