Nisa

Values

Our Story

Nisa is an underwear label and social enterprise that employs women from refugee and migrant backgrounds in their Wellington studio.

For Nisa’s seamstresses, a job is about so much more than a paycheque - it's about making friends, practising English and feeling like a valued member of a team.

“For us, success is not just providing a first job in New Zealand, but in providing a first step in a long career.”

Their website is full of stories from Nisa team members – from 26-year old Boshra, who fled the war in Syria with her husband and 3 children, to 17-year old Helen who left Ecuador when she was 9. All of them express how working at Nisa has helped them find empowerment, security and a place to express their creativity.

Elisha Watson founded Nisa in 2017. She was working as a lawyer and volunteering with the Red Cross' refugee resettlement programme and found that she shared a love of sewing with many of the women in the former refugee community. Over time she had the idea to set up a sewing workshop to provide community and employment opportunities to these women.

Nisa's talented seamstresses could have sewn anything, but in the end, they decided to focus on underwear because it is useful, universal and compact enough for a small workshop.

“There is already enough clothing in the world, whereas underwear is something we humans genuinely need.”

Just because underwear is practical, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Nisa’s briefs, bras, tops and socks come in a variety of colours and styles.

They put months of effort into designing, sourcing and then making every new product they launch, with rigorous testing for both style and comfort.

These undies are good on the eyes, good on the bum and good for the planet!  Nisa uses GOTS certified organic cotton for their briefs and bralettes. For their swimwear, they use ECONYLⓇ, a regenerated nylon made from fishing nets and other waste products.

Nisa is dedicated to transparency, and you can even visit their Wellington workshop to meet your garment-makers face-to-face.

“We'd love to welcome you in and show you what a small garment production facility looks like.  We're so proud of our people and processes, and jump at the opportunity to show them off!”