The Rise of 8 Mountains

Moira Solvalu Johns is no stranger to the Fiji Fashion industry. She started designing clothes at a very young age but in 2009 Moira decided to join a bigger platform and has continuously paved the way in the Fashion industry with her primary focus on plus-size women.

It wasn’t until Moira and her mum owned their first treadle machine (Moira was about 11 or 12) that she took pattern-making and design seriously. The founder of the 8 Mountains label established her passion in design while helping her mum sew kids clothing and cutting patterns off old newspaper to supplement the household income. Like many artists out there, finance was an issue. She had a dream, her vision was clear, but there was no financial backing for the talented young designer at that time.

Fast forward over a decade later, Moira Solvalu-Johns seats in her office as a Shipping Manager at Swires Shipping, owns a 8Mountains retail outlet in Suvas busy CBD, stocks at several boutiques around Fiji, manages online sales for her brand and plays an even greater role as a mother to her son and a wife to Jeffrey.

With all her success, the designer talks about the other struggles that she had to go through to be in the position that she’s in today. Formal education in designing and garment construction was something Moira lacked, but because of her perseverance and love for what she does, it was all trial and error for her as she learnt through her experience . . . and YouTube.

On the last day of Fiji Fashion Week 2017, the label 8 Mountains walked away with 2 out of 3 main awards – The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Designer of the Year Award and the Diet Coke Special Achievement Award. The designer was filled with emotions as she looked out into the crowd and saw her parents in tears. After all the struggles and the sacrifices over the years, the designer has finally ripped what she’s sown.

“Aspiring designers now have the opportunity to learn how to do fashion designing in the right way. If designing is your passion, then use constructive criticism to fuel your passion and continuously improve your label…” – Moira Solvalu-Johns

8 Mountains Boutique is located at Shop 6 QEB Suva.

Follow the label on social media: Instagram - @8mountains_official Facebook - 8 Mountains Collection