Nina Kharey
A trench dress for Meghan Markle may have kick-started Nina Kharey's international fashion design career, but a unique line of pandemic-inspired scrubs will be top-of-mind this year.
The 37-year-old founder of House of Nonie this month launches Folds (www.folds.ca), modern, antiviral, athletic wear for health-care workers, after spending much of 2020 producing high- quality masks and isolation gowns.
“We want to be the Nike of scrubs,” says Kharey, who's also spent more than a decade steering kids away from drugs and gangs after her elder brother was gunned down at age 25.
Kharey grew up around textiles: mom made men's suits while dad managed a manufacturing facility.
“I fell in love with it but my parents wanted me to be a doctor, engineer or lawyer. They'd say, `we didn't come all this way from India for you to do what we do.' “
Mid-engineering degree, her brother was shot.
“I learned very early how fragile life is. My brother taught me to do what your heart wants to do. My heart kept pulling me to design.”
While working as a computer engineer, Kharey's first collection caught Holt Renfrew's attention.
In 2015, House of Nonie launched designs for working women. Canadian fashion stylist Jessica Mulroney became a client and recommended the label to a friend, Markle, who wore the trench dress alongside husband Prince Harry.
That photograph blew up Kharey's business seven-fold, attracting clients around the world.
Then came COVID-19. With no one buying fashion, the company retooled its factory to make healthcare essentials.
People not only bought masks on her website, but stayed to buy clothing.
Kharey launched an affordable collection of everyday wear produced entirely in Canada and, in 2020, House of Nonie had a record year.
This year, Kharey will also step up work with Calgary Police Service's Youthlink anti-gang program, talking to more kids on lessons from her brother's troubled life.
“It helps me heal. His voice is talking through me.”