WELCOME TO DORA NOLA!

Imagine a world where you feel free, limitless and wild. Where you give yourself permission to create, to have fun, to love and be loved. This is the world I dreamed of when I created DORA NOLA. 

 

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS MANUELA

I have been an artist as long as I can remember. My most prized possessions as a kid were my arts & crafts supplies, and I vividly remember the imagery and books that surrounded me as a child.

But as we grow up, we sometimes lose sight of the artist within. This is where I was when the global pandemic hit in 2020. I felt like a part of me was missing, and I needed to figure out a way to get her back.

 

 

THE BIRTH OF DORA NOLA 

During an exercise in self awareness and introspection with my coach, I was given the challenge to create an alter ego; someone I could use as a tool to get me in a creatively flowing, happy space, and that is when DORA NOLA was born.

Through Dora Nola, I become uninhibited, empowered and confident.

Her personality was crafted from traits of women and men I admire, and her name is a combination of DORA the Explorer for her optimistic child-like approach to life, and NOLA for New Orleans, where I had taken a trip a few years back and felt so free. She gives herself permission to speak, to have fun, to be bold, courageous and ambitious. I started to wear my hair big, wore bold prints, head scarves & large sunglasses too. And I got busy creating and being an artist again. 

 

The scarves are the first Dora Nola collection. They represent freedom, beauty in all different ways, and happiness. It felt right that the first collection be an article of clothing that I most strongly associate to Dora Nola, something that I started to wear when I was creating her. 

I hope you enjoy the collection and that you let Dora Nola under your skin when you try her on.