Exclusive Interview With Brand: FAWN Active
An exclusive interview with the founders of FAWN Active, an activewear brand producing sustainable, premium long-lasting quality materials, with a keen focus on producing clothes with trendless designs.
SECTION 1: ABOUT YOU
1. Would you share a bit about yourself and where you’re from?
We are Celine and Madhura, based in Singapore and Australia. We met in Junior College and have been friends since then!
2. How did it all start?
It all started during the Covid-19 pandemic. We were both working out actively and decided to shop for activewear together. Initially, we thought it would be easy to get cute activewear, made with sustainable materials at affordable prices. After all, sustainability was the buzzword during that time. Despite searching around, we couldn’t find any cute and comfortable activewear that was made from sustainable materials. They were either overly glossy or just not soft. That sparked our journey of looking for fabric suppliers, and manufacturers who espoused sustainable practices and worked with sustainable materials. When we found those, FAWN Active was born.
3. Was it always the intention to become a sustainable and ethical designer?
Yes, that is the fundamental principle and our main motivation to start FAWN Active.
4. What was it that first raised your awareness of the issue of fast fashion?
For Maddy, a documentary called “The True Cost”.
For Celine, a sustainability competition required her to do a deep reading on the cost of fast fashion on our climate and factory workers.
SECTION 2: ABOUT YOUR BRAND
1. Could you tell us more about your label?
FAWN Active’s philosophy is to produce timeless apparels that are made from sustainable, premium, and long-lasting materials. We hope that our apparels will remind our consumers of the importance of self-care and wellness while providing them with a sustainable option in the fashion space.
2. What is the ethos when you design?
Our ethos is to keep our designs Timeless, Functional and Sustainable.
2.1 And what defines your style?
Our style is minimalistic, versatile, and of course, comfortable!
3. What have been some of the biggest challenges for you on this journey?
One of the biggest challenges we face is the challenge of keeping the cost of our apparels affordable whilst maintaining the quality. There is a premium that we pay for sustainable fabrics and even packaging. The premium is largely because of the more complicated manufacturing process to produce these materials, as well as the lack of supply in the market. Whilst many brands in the marketplace are passing on that cost increase to their consumers, we made the difficult decision to ensure that we do not. We believe that if we can do keep sustainable fashion affordable, it will be a good case study for new brands who do not have the economies of scale to be bold and launch sustainably made apparels despite the challenges in the supply chain.
4. What do you want to achieve personally with your brand?
Our personal vision is for FAWN Active to be a lifestyle product that our consumers can trust. We want each piece of apparel to be intentionally made. We want each consumer to walk away knowing that they have not just contributed to the future of our generations, but also to be mindful of the importance of loving and caring for themselves.
SECTION 3: YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE
1. How would you explain the importance of brands like yours making steps to become more ethical and sustainable to someone who isn’t well-versed in what that means?
Brands like FAWN Active are important as we provide choices – which is the gap in the fashion industry today.
The difference between brands like FAWN Active and a brand that is not 100% committed to ethical and sustainable practices is the dedication and effort that goes behind minimizing our ecological footprint and our focus on ensuring that our supply chains are ethical.
Think of a large truck. Every second, a large truck of clothes is being poured into our landfills. That is about 1.92 million tonnes of waste each year, and the number is increasing as we speak. Brands like us try to reduce that. We try to look for ways where we can recycle these materials, such as old fabric, fishing lines, and plastic. Thereafter, we put them through processing to ensure that the fabric output is one that is comparable or even stronger and softer than unsustainable fabrics in the market.
Brands like ours do not stop there. Remember the huge sweatshop scandals plaguing some of the biggest fashion brands? Brands like ours go the extra mile to ensure that the workers and factories that we trust uphold strong values – human rights, fair pay, fair labor practices, and safe working conditions, are non-negotiable for us when we are dealing with these factories.
For brands like us, we are protecting not just the earth but also our people. And that’s the difference between sustainable, ethical brands and ordinary brands.
2. For the consumers, what are the easiest ways that we can all be more sustainable in our approach to fashion?
Possibly contrary to what most clothing brands would tell you to do, but truly the most sustainable approach is to ‘Think thrice before buying a piece of clothing’.
To do that easily, opt for classic pieces with versatile styles. It is also worthwhile to invest in clothing with premium materials that have a longer shelf life.
3. In your own eyes, how has becoming a sustainable designer changed your life?
Embracing sustainable design has undeniably bolstered our imaginative and creative mindset, providing us with a wider lens through which to view the world. We feel happier having the knowledge to consider ethical implications and approach matters from multiple vantage points.
4. People say that sustainable fashion is too expensive or too difficult to do. How do you usually respond to that?
It is. The cost price of producing a sustainable piece of clothing is easily 5-10 times a non-sustainable piece of clothing. The fabric options are also very limited as there is much less demand across the board for sustainable ones. However, if we are taking risks to become business owners, and investing our hard-earned money into a brand, then we must make sure that we are investing for the right reasons and our brand should give consumers a conscience-free option. To us, it’s not about what is easy to do, but it’s all about what is the right thing to do.
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