About Us
Slow Fashion and Timeless Design Pave the Road to Morocco
Mushmina is an ethical fashion brand born out of a love for unique, custom-designed clothing and accessories, preserving traditional methods of skilled artisans, and a passion for world travel. Inspired by the global fashion sensibility of sisters Heather O’Neill and Katie O’Neill to create a socially conscious brand for customers who want to look good and do good, we are committed to the economic empowerment of women and employment of artisans in Morocco.
An embodiment of ethical clothing and timeless style, Mushmina means ‘little sister.’ Our mission is to create a sisterhood of women around the world who together are designing change. More than 80% of the skilled artisans Mushmina collaborates with are women, we partner with over 150 artisans to support handmade craft and small scale production in homes and workshops throughout Morocco.
Join us as we bring a more positive, sustainable future filled with vibrant ethical fashion and accessories right to your door.
Katie O’Neill
Katie O’Neill, co-founder and original creative director for Mushmina, has a BFA in Crafts from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where she focused on metal and fiber arts. Katie has a strong interest in anthropology and feels a connection to global artisanal craft and hand techniques. She believes that there is energy inherent in products that are handmade and an importance in employing communities that continue to tell stories through ancient handcrafted traditions. An educational trip to Mali and Morocco in 2004 propelled her to want to create a business in support of cottage industry artisans in remote rural towns and bring awareness to the global public of their rich heritage and crafts.
In recent years, Katie has been expanding her offerings by pursuing interests in Herbalism, Flower Essence, Floristry and Medical Astrology. She feels the right tools and wellness practices are what is most needed for our evolution into this new paradigm. As a space holder and facilitator of Women’s Circles she hopes to empower women to reconnect in community and to our individual divine nature as creators. By being close to nature she believes we have the ability to strengthen our own intuitions. Katie’s love of exploration assists in her creative process to capture an ancestral nostalgia and spiritual essence in her work and designs. Katie calls Pennsylvania her home and discovery playground along the beautiful Delaware River Valley. She is currently working on her medicinal garden and healing arts as an offering in the world. Read more about Katie on the Mushmina blog.
Tara, an American-British national, is perhaps not your typical ho-hum writer. She has a passion for food (especially if someone else is cooking and cleaning up) and is even more fervent when it comes to guacamole, her favorite pastime. Yes, it can be a pastime. As a mother of three young girls (ages 8, 11, and 13), this is, however, wishful thinking. Throw in a blasé orange cat, plus one husband and this is even more delusional dreaming. As you may be able to see, Tara uses humor in her words. Her go-to mantra is, ‘Writing is cheaper than therapy.” Combining humor with a touch of poignancy is what drew Tara to writing in the first place. After all, she believes if one can laugh, one can survive. Tara and her intrepid family have lived all over the globe from Egypt, Senegal, El Salvador to Qatar. They now call beautiful Morocco their home. She and her husband met as Peace Corps Volunteers in rural Cameroon, Central Africa. Tara leans towards writing about women, particularly stories of empowering those who might not typically be able to tell their tale. She finds inspiration in real stories of real people. In her free time, Tara can be found dancing with her girls, telling bad jokes (the cat thinks she’s funny) and having a Belgian beer with her husband. She is honored to be a part of the Mushmina Team.
Read a story about Tara's experience in the Peace Corps here.