About Us
Our Mission
Pomegranate Moon is a fair trade, socially responsible company dedicated to providing quality handmade fashion accessories for our customers while increasing benefits for our artisans in Nepal. We encourage the preservation of traditional craft processes while promoting environmentally sustainable practices. We take pride in cultivating long term relationships with our collectives. Our project provides a means for women to lift themselves and their families out of poverty while building self esteem, pride and confidence.
Our Method
Most of our handmade scarves are created using nuno felting process. Very small amount of merino wool are carefully placed on recycled silk, chiffon, or cotton. The materials are heated, soaped, and scrubbed causing the wool fibers to migrate through the weave of the cloth and bond together creating garments that are lightweight and drape beautifully on the body. We also use the traditional wet felted technique, the oldest form of fabric making.
Our Story
Inspired by the color and whimsy of the crafts in the Nepali marketplace when visiting Nepal, our Aunt Ellen launched Pomegranate Moon in 2009 in hopes of bringing the same magic to the states. We collaborated with a group of felt artisans to explore new techniques, marrying our cultures into a line of products; we worked together at the felting tables; we studied Polly Sterling's Nuno felting techniques; we brainstormed different materials and fabrics and discovered a plethora of possibilities from recycled vintage sari scarves--but we still needed a name.
One night at dinner in a Nepali family's home Ellen was thinking about this new business. The kitchen window opened below Swayambhunath stupa. It was dusk, and the temple was glowing in a warm bath of color. Above it the moon hung full and orange as a pomegranate, and in Ellen's mind's eye it opened and strewed its seeds of plenty on the mountainside and the people below. It spoke to her heart saying there is enough: enough for her friend, enough for the women, enough for the factory, and enough for her. As a fair trade for-profit company she vowed to always be straightforward about her work and only to take my share. These are the values that built Pomegranate Moon, and we still hold to them today.
About the Owners
Stacie has always wanted to be just like her wild, fun Aunt Ellen who has traveled the world and has a gypsy soul. She's even named for her - Stacie Ellen. When Ellen started this company in 2009, Stacie was just 21 years old, about to graduate college, and move to Atlanta to be an accountant. This wouldn't stick. When Ellen started doing wholesale shows at the Atlanta markets, Stacie would go to every show. She loved the products, the mission of the company, and the promise of adventure that Pomegranate Moon offered. Her soul is a bit wild too. Stacie knew this company was important, and she decided early on that she should be a part of it. She knew that Pomegranate Moon was a part of her destiny. When Ellen was ready to retire, Stacie and her husband Rusty decided it was the right time for them to take over. Rusty Waites - now the backbone of the business, had also grown to care about Pomegranate Moon and its mission for the people of Nepal. Like Ellen and Stacie, Rusty grew up in Mississippi, and he was ready for his own adventure. So Rusty quit his career in sales to join the team. Rusty and Stacie took over Pomegranate Moon in January of 2019 - with Ellen still checking in to make sure things run smoothly of course!
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt