WATCH: Shop Essence Live - Make Rest A Ritual With Melda Moda
Melda Moda prints are inspired by Melissa's life as a millennial woman raised by Caribbean immigrants in Brooklyn, New York.
The clothing is made in small batches. The Utopia Collection was manufactured at a factory committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and providing its employees with fair and timely wages.
Melda Moda is a Black woman-owned business based in New York City.
The clothing is made in small batches. The Utopia Collection was manufactured at a factory committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and providing its employees with fair and timely wages.
Melda Moda is a Black woman-owned business based in New York City.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 - Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode
00:02 of Shop Essence Live.
00:03 I am your host Noni Donovan,
00:05 and I am so excited about this week's entrepreneurs.
00:10 As I always say, we got the best of the best.
00:15 We got promo codes, we have discounts,
00:17 we have products that are made for us, by us.
00:19 And when I tell you I needed to get out
00:22 of the ugly pajama crew,
00:25 I'm just like admittedly sweatshirt and sweatpants,
00:30 t-shirt, whatever.
00:32 But we're gonna elevate ourselves today, okay?
00:36 And Melissa, who is creative director and founder
00:41 of Melda Moda is gonna show us
00:44 her incredible sleepwear line.
00:46 Melissa, come on in.
00:47 - Hi, thank you so much for having me.
00:51 - First of all, I have been parading around in this,
00:54 like this is actual like a daytime.
00:56 Y'all don't judge me if you see me out in the streets,
00:58 but sleepwear because it is just so fashionable and fly.
01:02 But before we show it off,
01:05 tell us a little bit about yourself, your journey,
01:07 and how you came up with this amazing line.
01:11 - Yeah, I worked in tech, HR and tech for many, many years.
01:16 And when we were all locked down in quarantine,
01:21 I realized that I was feeling,
01:25 I missed getting dressed up to go into the office every day.
01:28 And I couldn't find, like I wanted comfortable,
01:33 but cute clothes to wear in my house.
01:35 And that's where the idea for these slumber suits came.
01:38 I didn't find any prints that reflected me
01:41 as like a black Caribbean American woman.
01:44 And so that's where it first came about.
01:47 But when it became more than an idea and a mission
01:50 is when I took a career break due to burnout
01:54 and I started thinking,
01:55 what could I have done to prevent that?
01:58 And one of the things I thought was,
02:00 let's get back to that pajama idea.
02:02 If I had something really nice to put on,
02:05 maybe that could have been a signal for me
02:07 to start winding down at night.
02:10 Once the pajamas go on, the work notifications go off.
02:14 And so that's how the idea came about.
02:16 - First of all, y'all have to get into this intentionality
02:21 about our work-life balance,
02:23 about how we are making sure
02:26 that we are taking care of our boundaries here.
02:29 I love when the pajamas come on,
02:32 notifications come off,
02:34 and then you give yourself time to wind out.
02:36 I love that.
02:38 So maybe I shouldn't be walking around in my pajamas.
02:41 (laughing)
02:43 I try not to wear them when I'm doing work-related things.
02:48 I've had many people tell me they wear them out
02:51 and like I said, we call them slumber suits.
02:53 So, it's a step up from a pajama.
02:58 - Slumber suits.
03:00 Okay, that's that.
03:01 - You get a dress for a date with your dreams.
03:05 Yeah.
03:06 - First of all, you have all the things, Melissa.
03:08 I am so inspired.
03:09 So before we get into everything that's available
03:12 in your line, you also have a promo code
03:15 for the Shabba S' Live.
03:16 - Yes, I do.
03:17 - Share.
03:18 - The promo code is EssenceLive
03:21 and we are offering 20% off of all of our slumber suits,
03:25 our relax wraps, and our short slumber suits.
03:29 So please take advantage, EssenceLive, 20% off.
03:33 - Oh, so good.
03:35 Okay, so Caribbean American, tell us where you are from,
03:38 where your people from.
03:39 - Yeah, my parents are from St. Vincent
03:41 and the Grenadines, as is our namesake, Melda.
03:46 And one of the things, my mom would make a drink
03:49 called sorrel every holiday period.
03:52 And so that's where that print is inspired from.
03:55 And there's another one, the relax wrap that you have
03:59 is also inspired by sorrel.
04:00 So I worked with some black women artists
04:02 to create these prints to reflect that.
04:06 - That's what I'm missing.
04:07 I need to go sorrel.
04:08 (laughs)
04:09 That is so good.
04:10 - I'm gonna do some at Christmas.
04:12 - What is the first thing you wanna highlight
04:14 for the people?
04:16 - Let's highlight that slumber suit
04:18 that you're wearing right now.
04:19 That is called our bicep slumber suit.
04:21 And I have one here with me too.
04:24 You can see a little closeup.
04:27 And this one is made from viscose.
04:30 It has this really silky satin feel.
04:33 And then, yeah, we did a little contrasting with the cuffs.
04:38 And this is our deepest colorway.
04:41 We just thought as the weather is changing,
04:44 the leaves change, and so the colors
04:46 in our slumber suits should change too.
04:48 - I'm trying my best.
04:51 - I love it, I love it.
04:52 - First of all, I wish, like if I can just describe
04:57 the luxury that I am wrapped in right now.
05:01 It is just so luxurious.
05:04 And yes, I absolutely love this print.
05:06 It's just such a beautiful color.
05:08 Look at the pocket.
05:09 Look at the pocket.
05:11 - And the details.
05:12 - Yes.
05:13 - Details, y'all.
05:14 All right, let me keep flying up this.
05:16 There's a promo code for you guys if you're shopping.
05:19 Once again, everything we have right now, we're in October.
05:24 Y'all don't wait until December 23rd to start shopping.
05:28 (laughing)
05:29 I do that sometimes.
05:31 It is a nightmare.
05:32 Start to save things, even if you're saving this.
05:35 Like, oh, this would be good for that auntie.
05:37 I don't know what to get.
05:38 - Yeah, this is luxury, y'all.
05:40 - Everybody can take advantage of this.
05:42 You know, we want to start, black women,
05:44 we're so used to overworking
05:46 and doing everything for everyone.
05:48 Give someone the gift of rest.
05:51 - Give someone the gift of a date with their dreams.
05:56 Or getting dressed, you know, how she said it.
05:57 It's much better, but.
05:59 So good.
06:00 What's the next thing you wanna highlight for us?
06:02 - Let's talk about our Relax Wrap.
06:05 And this is a hand-painted version of the Sorrow print.
06:10 - Wow.
06:11 - And this one is made from eco barrels.
06:14 So it is a sustainably sourced viscose.
06:17 We wanna make sure that as we're building
06:20 and growing the brand, we're being intentional
06:25 about not harming the environment.
06:27 So this one is sustainable
06:29 for those of you who have an earth focus.
06:32 And I have a lot of brides tell me they love this one.
06:37 Pre-wedding photos, gifts to their bridal party.
06:42 Yeah, and this is also great
06:44 for if you're just relaxing around your house
06:46 on, you know, an evening or the weekend.
06:49 - Luxury.
06:52 - Right?
06:53 - And luxury, y'all.
06:54 - Okay.
06:55 - I love the color way with this one too.
06:58 It's just vibrant and fun.
07:01 You've got some pink, some purple, some greens in there.
07:05 So yeah, for those of you who,
07:06 when you wanna put on your makeup
07:09 or you're having your bridal party over,
07:13 the Relax Wrap is the one for that.
07:16 - So good.
07:18 Remember there's a promo code
07:19 when you guys shop at Shop Essence Live.
07:21 Everything goes straight
07:22 to these incredible entrepreneurs, by the way.
07:24 Nothing coming to me, nothing coming to Essence.
07:27 So when you support,
07:27 you're supporting scaling their businesses.
07:30 So make sure you guys are going to the site
07:32 and putting these in your cart.
07:34 So I also have this beautiful short set, sleep.
07:39 - Yes, the short slumber suit.
07:41 So this one is called our Utopia suit.
07:44 And this one, I was just dreaming of
07:48 a place where everything was happy.
07:52 There was no sickness, no sadness.
07:54 And we have the protective panther represented there.
07:58 And then this beautiful, these beautiful flowers.
08:01 So you have something pretty to look at.
08:03 And this one is also in the VSCO.
08:07 So it feels silky, satiny.
08:10 And for those of you,
08:12 whether you're in a warm weather climate
08:14 or you have some holiday to the Caribbean plan,
08:18 that's the suit for you.
08:20 - Oh my goodness.
08:23 I love, I love, I love.
08:25 So good.
08:26 So how do you,
08:27 what's the process for coming up
08:28 with these beautiful prints?
08:30 Like you have such an incredible story behind it all.
08:35 What's the process for actually
08:37 nailing down all these elements?
08:39 - Yeah, so again, my life as a millennial,
08:42 as a black woman, as Caribbean American,
08:45 all of that influences the prints.
08:49 And then I work with these incredible black women.
08:53 One is a digital artist and one is a painter.
08:56 Surface pattern designer.
08:57 And so I'll tell them, this is what I'm looking for.
09:00 I create the mood boards and then they go on ahead
09:03 and bring it to life.
09:05 And so we go through some iterations and yeah,
09:09 it's just been good to also be able to give
09:11 these women artists a canvas for their art.
09:15 - Oh, wow.
09:16 So we're walking around in wearable art,
09:18 a sleepwear, no big deal.
09:20 And luxurious with silk.
09:23 Why don't you shout them out here?
09:24 I would love for them to get a shout out.
09:26 We love black creatives.
09:27 - So Calut and Calice Akua Textiles.
09:32 They are some just really, really amazing artists
09:36 behind these.
09:37 - You guys are killing it.
09:37 You guys are absolutely killing it.
09:39 This is so great.
09:41 So incredible.
09:41 I'm flying up the promo code again.
09:44 So Melissa, you are also a member of the New Voices family.
09:48 I'd love to hear from you what it's been like
09:50 to be a part of the community.
09:52 How has it helped you scale your business?
09:54 - Oh my gosh.
09:55 First, this amazing opportunity to be here with you
09:58 and to connect with all of the Essence viewers.
10:02 I grew up reading Essence, so this is a dream come true.
10:06 I have to tell you, my mom,
10:07 who is not impressed by anything,
10:09 when I told her I was doing this, she squealed.
10:11 - Come on, mom.
10:13 - I made it.
10:14 The next thing is the community.
10:17 It's just been being able to connect
10:20 with other women entrepreneurs who have been able
10:22 to share their tips and their tricks
10:25 for navigating this process,
10:28 especially as someone who's making a career change.
10:32 There's so much that I didn't know that I didn't know.
10:35 And they have really, no one's gonna help you out
10:38 like another black woman.
10:40 So they have really come through with advice
10:45 and suggestions that have really helped me shape
10:49 the direction of the brand.
10:50 So that is just the biggest blessing
10:53 of being part of the New Voices community.
10:56 - So, so good.
11:00 Well, I'm so excited to see what else is coming
11:03 from Mel DeModa.
11:04 You guys make sure that you follow them
11:06 on all of their socials.
11:09 I have it on this card right here.
11:11 - We have some sleep masks coming up,
11:15 which will be great for stocking stuffers
11:18 with the holidays coming.
11:20 So they are gonna be mulberry silk.
11:22 And these are great for your coworkers, friends,
11:27 you wanna give them a little rest or a date with their dreams.
11:32 - Let me tell you something,
11:34 little gift packet with the suit and the robe
11:38 and then the sleep mask and the bonnet to match.
11:42 Somebody is going to love you this holiday season.
11:46 So make sure you guys are visiting the site,
11:49 put it in your cart, get it out of the way now.
11:51 You wanna start striking those people,
11:52 some of those people off your list,
11:54 especially the ones that you got picky people to buy for.
11:58 This is a good one, okay?
11:59 So make sure that you guys are exploring.
12:01 Melissa, it's been so great to have you on the show.
12:05 Thank you so, so much for being here.
12:09 And I'm so excited to see what else is to come
12:12 from Mel DeModa.
12:14 - Thank you all so much.
12:16 - Yes, and thank you guys so much
12:18 for tuning in once again, my name is Noni Donovan.
12:20 We'll be back next week
12:21 with two new black owned brands to shop.
12:24 See you guys later, bye.