The women behind TUKUAN

TUKUAN is the beautiful story of two Quebec women who met in 2010 to organize a fundraiser to help exploited children in India. As new mothers, they immediately became close during a meeting organized by a friend who is very active in the charitable sector. Their shared passion for the arts, children and mutual aid led them to undertake their first project together. The fundraiser was a success and it was the beginning of a fruitful partnership.

Lisa was living in Montreal’s Mile-End neighborhood at the time. One day while having a coffee on St-Viateur street, her tendency to feel chilly prevented her from enjoying her coffee break since the door of the café was always opening to welcome new customers. She used to wrap her scarves around her waist to protect her lower back, her hips and her thighs from the incessant drafts that come from the Canadian North. The idea of a wrap-style garment to cover her lower back was beginning to take shape. She immediately thought of her friend Félicité, a fashion designer, to make this idea a reality.

Lisa is an Italian-Quebecer, an artist at heart and mother of two boys. She has been working in the field of performance art since childhood. At the age of eighteen, she began a modeling career that lasted twenty years. A lifelong sports and outdoor enthusiast, she co-founded the AKI outdoor club at her high school in 1992 that eventually became a permanent sports and outdoor program specific to this school.

Entrepreneur since 2013, she created a natural cosmetics company that emphasizes respect for the planet and its inhabitants.

 

Félicité Donyo is a Quebecer by adoption since 1994. Born in Togo, she studied fashion and design in France.

She began her adventure as an entrepreneur in 2008 through a fashion company and became the mother of a beautiful little girl in 2010.

Fili Boutique offers collections with touches of European design and African batik as well as Indonesian-influenced creations of unique clothing for children from 0 to 6 years of age. Her small exclusive collections are created and made in Quebec. Her objective is to offer durable top-quality style. It is the blending of her cultures that inspire her unique creations, each one lovingly designed by her thus ensuring that no two garments will ever be identical. Her top-of-the-line collections for children have made a name for themselves. Businesswoman and Québecois celebrity Mitsou's children proudly wear Fili creations and Julia Roberts' children are also customers of the brand.

Félicité collaborated for a few years with Quebec designer Ariane Carle as assistant designer and creator of flower girl dresses worthy of an haute couture atelier.

She then developed a real expertise in the field of textiles and winter fashion by working for two major Montreal companies, Do-Gree and Kombi, where she works in product management and quality control. She is also a freelance designer in product development for various companies.

In 2015, Félicité Donyo and Lisa Noto decided to found the Montreal-based company TUKUAN the versatile overskirt.

Félicité's expertise in product development and Lisa's vision succeeded in bringing the TUKUAN skirt to life. With the changes we are experiencing in the fashion industry, local tailoring and eco-responsibility are aspects that Félicité and Lisa value above all else. It is with enthusiasm that Félicité Donyo and Lisa Noto are ready to realize this new business project. Together, they have every intention of making TUKUAN one of the brands that define the Quebec and Canadian fashion landscape.

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