Fusing together high fashion with social responsibility Maya Persaud and her Parisian couture t-shirt company highlight the values she embraced growing up in Washington DC.
By Adoria Doucette
The Lotty Dotty Line
Growing up in Washington DC and Hawaii, Maya Persaud’s beauty and striking appearance landed her on the runways of Europe as an in demand fashion model. Her post graduate education at the University of London’s prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies afforded her additional opportunities to travel the world and fight battles for worthy causes. Maya has blended business savvy, world class elegance and high fashion experience to launch “Lotty Dotty”. Based in Paris, the company has designed a revolutionary line of high-fashion T-shirts featuring screen printed doll figures that can be dressed interchangeably with Velcro-backed designer mini-outfits. Harking back to childhood memories of playing with paper dolls, Maya and co founder Shevanne Helmer named the company Lotty Dotty after one of their early favorites. The company also serves as a showcase for unknown talented designers who create the mini-outfit collections, and are promoted on the company’s website and packaging. “We wanted to offer several T-shirts in one. This coincides with our will to do as much as we can to preserve our environment. Our T-shirts are made of 100% organic cotton and we try to use recycled materials whenever possible”.
Lotty Dotty for Children
Maya has launched a new limited edition line of couture t-shirts to benefit the Susan G. Komen Organization, the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cure to breast cancer. One hundred of Lotty Dotty’s revolutionary designed environmentally-friendly Tee’s (made of organic cotton and bamboo) were donated to a recent gala event, “Unveil Your Pink”, in Boca Raton, Florida, for a fund-raising auction to benefit the Komen South Florida Affiliate. The special shirt features a new doll outfit – a tennis-inspired white cotton dress with a pink belt and pink bow on a white scoop neck T-shirt, with ‘South Florida Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®’ printed on the sleeves. The limited edition T-shirts were so well-received and in such high demand that the company decided to continue production and sell them exclusively online at www.lottydotty.com from July 1 – September 1, 2010 only. Ten percent of the proceeds will go to the South Florida Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
Maya represents beauty, purpose and creativity at its best; Power Source salutes her and her burgeoning fashion enterprise. We wish Maya the best as she and her husband are expecting a new child. May you have continued success and have a healthy, happy baby!
Lotty Dotty Co-Founders Maya Persuad & Shevanne Helmer
