What happened this year?

Extended version

Why i started my own brand

• I am a creative with a degree in sustainable development and politics
• In Berlin I looked for something I wanted to do instead of something I was qualified to do
• Lack of interesting job opportunities made me go freelance and start a business on my own
• I’m a self-taught designer learning from YouTube and books, but my degree helped me with the ethical aspect of my business
• With an aim of making sustainable fashion more interesting

Based in Berlin

• Berlin is an open space which can makes your creativity run wild, where being weird and extra is appreciated
• Here, alternative lifestyles, start up culture (supported also by the government), the abundance of art and music inspire you to be whatever you want
• My inspiration comes from everywhere, the street, mixing vibes of different people, recycled pieces themselves and the internet

• But keeping up with the fast-changing pace of fashion is the hardest thing to do as an individual designer
• Lack of self-confidence made the beginnings harder – especially the networking part, because I’m kinda shy

Ethical fashion

• Ethical fashion should cover every process within the whole value chain, from suppliers to production to human resources
• It’s really hard to establish an ethical brand at this price point
• Making people understand the price of my product is even harder
• Having no capital became a limitation, partly solved it by hiring interns, offering barters/exchanges plus use everything at my disposal to keep the costs and waste minimum

Challenges of running your own brand from your living room

• I’m being misunderstood, that my clothing is only for thin people since mostly I model my pieces myself out of convenience, to save money and time (the 2 things I’m lacking the most)
• Because the pieces are mostly one of a kind the piece needs to find an owner who likes the design, but also fits it
• So inventory pressure keeps following me since the beginning
• A thing I also learned is that stockists has way more selling power than a (fairly new) online shop
• Time management, planning as much ahead as possible, set short term goal and have long term vision are very important
• I tots appreciate interns coming to work with me, they helped me a lot with my timetable
• How to balance between life and work? The answer is I don’t, work mode is always on
• But it’s good to have something to look forward to (such as planning holidays)
• Not a solution for everyone but you don’t mind if you love what you do

What my customers told me

• My customers, they are young, open minded, extravagant and unique
• Some of them really like the sustainability and ethical part, some like the design more
• For the customer relationship building, I would love to know my customers more
• I have been trying to make the whole purchasing process more special and personal for them by being easy to reach and giving feedback to them and being problem solving oriented
• When there were conflicts, I made a few mistakes due to impulsive response
• I learned always try to be rational, take my time to calm down to rethink and solve the problem, also asking for an opinion of the people around me always helps

Work life balance

• This past year for my business I gave up most of my weekends, my social life and sometimes my mental wellbeing, because it’s very stressful too, there is little space for other things in my life
• On the other hand, building your own thing is really exciting, makes you feel like there is a brighter future
• If what I’m doing is affecting the society and the environment, even just a little bit, it keeps me going
• I hope changed people’s view of fashion and inspired them to change their behaviour
• I met a lot of new people, entered and explored new world, kept adding value to what I’m doing, got more people appreciating my work
• Also can’t forget to mention I managed to survive the first year and keep the lights on

Advice for myself one year ago:

• be more prepared to invest lots of time and energy,
• don’t be afraid to ask for help,
• of networking,
• but most importantly,
• believe in yourself more!

Fashion competition

• As for competition, I believe that if we are working towards the same goal, we should collaborate more instead of compete and support each other to fight against the status quo
• Aliexpress copying my design and selling it for a tenth of my price made me feel complicit in fast fashion, even though it’s illogical
• I am grateful and appreciative of this year and surprised myself by how much I can do

I hope in the coming years,

• I can pay people who work for me,
• build stronger brand awareness,
• grow my production capacity,
• find more sales channels,
• find a business partner and a mentor,
• move to an actual studio
• and have a day off when I need one!

Photos (from the top): Ivan Kašša shooting Sahar, Elena, and Eily MM lookbook (May 2019), Veronica and Alina at the MM launch in Dandy Horse (July 2018), me at the Yeoja Launch MM workshop (June 2019)