So I get asked a lot; “what made you interested in sustainable textiles”?
It’s a fair question given I’ve had a very varied career, and travelled a lot, living and working in large cities like New York, London, Los Angeles and Berlin, but I’m originally a girl from the country, and I grew up being surrounded by nature and not many people.
One of the greatest impacts on me growing up in regional NSW during the nation’s longest and harshest droughts, is the knowledge that water is precious.
I recall only being allowed to water our browning lawn on certain days, never washing our car like we used to love to help Dad with, and sometimes sharing bath water – oh the decadence of having a full bath still feels naughty. We would hear tragic news of local farmers, Dads of kids at school, who had commit suicide from the stress. And still to this day I will rush to a wasteful running tap and switch it off with a deep sense of urgency.
I remember the incredible jubilation we heard through an ABC Radio National broadcast on Christmas Day, of the town not far from us who got rain on Christmas Day – totally unheard of in peak Summer, but also, we learnt that they had had only one week’s water supply left of their town water. And it’s water that is the backbone of the fashion industry, of every industry.
And, when it came to choose a country to work with, India was a no-brainer. I had met my ex when I travelled there the first time 10 years ago. In Kerala, where my extended family still live, we visit them, far from most modern luxuries, in a small fishing village right on the most pristine beach you’ve ever seen – a beach that’s actually on-par with any long, unspoiled Australian beach.
So I chose to use my variety of non-fashion industry skills, to set up a Fashion Label EMBROID, and Wholesale Textile business, because I love fashion and art, but more importantly, to work towards celebrating and supporting the lives of people along the entire sustainable fashion supply chain. From the farmers, through to the weavers, natural dyers and the Artisans.
It’s taken me so far over a year to learn about where the textile industry is headed in India, to research the bare bones of a supply chain of businesses, and to find my first company to work with who are a “one-stop-shop” of sustainable textiles, and I could not be more thrilled to be able to finally share what I’ve discovered.
I mean, Vincent the Co-Director is as obsessed with sustainability as me, and I’m just learning so much in an industry that I’ve never been part of before.
So I’m approaching it like the art curator, event coordinator and PR consultant that I used to be. It’s about finding and working with the right team of people who are infinitely more talented than me.
I’m approaching it like curating an art exhibition. Focus on the beauty, celebrate nature, and help support extraordinarily talented people, often in rural communities, plus make an impact in helping save the environment.
So welcome to STSC. Sustainable Textile Supply Chain. Please subscribe, follow and share our wholesale products with anyone keen to make something from gorgeous textiles that have truly been made with love and care.
If you are a fashion or product designer, please join our Sustainable Textiles Club, so we can all share the newness of using the Banana Sylk fabric, and to collectivise our buying power. These textiles are made to order, therefore they are loomed and hand dyed by the metre, and the more metres we buy together, the more cost effective it is for us all to share.
And please read about the “Wealth From Waste” project we are supporting. It’s the Eco Green Unit, where we aim to purchase and gift Fibre Extraction Machines plus training at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, so more banana farmers can use their Pseudo stem “waste” after each harvest, instead of having to pay to have it removed, and often burnt, adding to the local air pollution.
Thanks for supporting the Sustainable Textile Supply Chain.