Meet Cymphoni Laster, Fashion Designer & Rubi Martinez, Fashion and Interior Stylist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cymphoni Laster & Rubi Martinez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cymphoni & Rubi, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Runi was created by two fashion creatives love of design and styling. We felt there was a need in the market for quality garments that were distinctive in design for those who want to stand out. We create our own trends and focus on making each client feel great in everything that they purchase. We felt like the Atlanta area needed more diversity in the fashion industry and wanted to combine the design process with the styling process and make those services more accessible to everyone who wants to be more involved in the process of creating and styling their closets.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Runi aims to provide a comprehensive shopping experiences from conception to completion with our clients. We offer the opportunity to provide virtual fittings where customer are given size recommendations and able to customize the color/pattern, length, and other small alterations to make a more custom garment. We then create that garment and meet with the customer a few weeks later to deliver the garment and discuss potentially styling options for the garments and answer any questions about how to wear their garment. We are most proud of creating a comprehensive experience with fashion that is ethically and locally made in Atlanta! We get to support other women owned business and reduce our impact on the environment in the fashion space which makes our business innovative in this space.

It was definitely not easy to get Runi to this space. We lacked a lot of knowledge of the basics of business ownership and are still learning today. We filed for an LLC in 2017 but did not launch the website until late 2019. We knew that we always wanted to see Runi into fruition so we stuck with it and educated ourselves along the way of what we needed to know to get the business off the ground.

We want the world to know that Runi is a dream made into reality by two Women of Color, who self-funded their own company and built it from the ground up for people who are looking for an exclusive and ethical experience when purchasing garments to distinguish them for special occasions and active lifestyles. We want to continue building a company that add values to fashion industry through diversity and ethical manufacturing processes.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For our fashionable friends we would take them to Little 5 Points for eclectic boutiques and thrift stores. If they are looking for a more luxurious experience we would visit Shoppes at Buckhead which has a great collection of International and Local brands. All of these places have amazing food and vibes for hanging out in the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to shout out our sorority, Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. for bringing us together. As well as our family and friends who support endeavors. Our manufacturer, FAM USA for helping us product quality products ethically made in the USA.

Website: https://www.runiboutique.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/runiboutique?igshid=3ktpv565dmzg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/runiboutique?s=21

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runiboutique

Youtube: Youtube.com/runiboutique

Image Credits
Photographer – Brenton Yancy Models – Zuri Laster, Alyx Zibman, Courtney Brown, Reed Watkins, Nikki, Rubi Martinez, Cymphoni Laster