Exclusive Interview With Brand: MiliMilu

Discover the inspiring journey of Linda, the founder of MiliMilu. Based in Hong Kong and Singapore, MiliMilu provides a wide range of sustainable, eco-friendly clothing and accessories for the entire family. Linda’s passion and commitment to sustainability shines through in every aspect of this unique brand.

SECTION 1: ABOUT YOU

1. Would you share a bit about yourself and your origins?

My name is Linda, and I am originally from Latvia. I have lived in Asia for almost half my life, and Hong Kong has been my home for most of it. I fell in love with this vibrant city that also offers peaceful beach getaways and mountains for hiking. I am also a mom of two beautiful children and the founder of my third ‘baby,’ MiliMilu.

2. How did it all start?

MiliMilu was born out of a deep-rooted passion for sustainable and eco-friendly clothing that respects both people and the environment. Surrounded by nature during my upbringing, I was fortunate to experience an unspoiled and green natural environment, and I long for the same for my children.

My commitment to sustainable children’s clothing deepened after the birth of my son. With his delicate skin, he could only wear organic, breathable fabrics, which were challenging to find locally, especially during the difficult times of the Covid years when obtaining products from Europe became an even greater challenge.

3. Was it always the intention to become a sustainable and ethical designer?

I used to work in a corporate job but always supported a more sustainable and health-focused lifestyle. My perspective changed after having kids. I became more concerned about their future and the environment they will grow up in. Our current consumption habits are harmful, and I believe we should all be more mindful consumers, buying better quality items and reducing waste. Embracing circular fashion, not only in clothing, is important. If we don’t make changes, future generations might miss out on experiencing nature and the world around us. The effects of climate change are already apparent, and it’s our responsibility to make a difference.

4. What was it that first raised your awareness of the issue of fast fashion?

I remember growing up in Latvia, where clothing and fabrics were limited. Most of our clothing was either handmade or passed down, and we only had a few new items each season. When the borders opened, a lot of new products came in, and stores started selling new fabrics along with candies and soft drinks. This led to many of us developing allergies and skin rashes due to the exposure to new materials and chemicals.

After travelling and seeing polluted beaches and places filled with plastics and plastic fibres, it’s clear that fast fashion is contributing to pollution. Additionally, both kids and adults are developing more allergies and skin rashes due to increased exposure to chemicals present in synthetic fabrics. Organic fabrics are biodegradable and degrade much more easily compared to synthetic fabrics, which shed microplastics with each wash.

SECTION 2: ABOUT YOUR BRAND

1. Could you tell us more about your label?

In Latvian, MiliMilu means “LoveLove,” representing love for both your loved ones and nature. For us, MiliMilu is about embracing a childlike spirit towards nature with practical, easy-to-wear clothing that remains stylish and can be worn for multiple seasons.

Our goal is to create a capsule wardrobe and clothing that can be passed down to next wearer. We strive to be creative in extending the wearability of our kids’ clothing. Our main focus is on using eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton, linen, and other certified materials and ensuring ethical production practices that we can trace and verify. It is important for us to know that the people who make our clothes are well taken care of.

2. What is the ethos when you design?

Practical, easy to wear, and long-lasting are the main factors for women’s clothing. Creating pieces that you will wear again and again is important. We also offer colorful options and big prints.

As for kids’ clothing, we aim to have bigger gaps between sizing. This allows our clothing to look good when it’s a bit loose and also grow with your child.

We offer dresses with adjustable straps and elastic waist to extend the lifespan of clothing to ensure it fits longer than one season.

2.1 And what defines your style?

I really think that clothing should be timeless and simple, with a little bit of edge, and feature fun prints, especially for kids. My personal style is simple and practical, but I absolutely love dresses, they are definitely my favorite clothing item.

I prefer free-fitted styles that are easy to wear in hot weather. And of course, a good blazer comes in handy for dealing with strong air conditioning.

3. What have been some of the biggest challenges for you on this journey?

To start and figure out how to wear all the hats as a small business owner at once has been quite challenging, especially with no prior retail experience. However, I have learned a lot and am growing and learning alongside MiliMilu.

The pandemic and changes in customer behavior and shopping habits have also affected the company’s growth, so we are working extra hard to reach our targets and achieve our goals.

4. What do you want to achieve personally with your brand?

The dream is for people to buy less and buy better, to know more about fabrics and fashion pollution, and to understand what synthetics do to the environment and also to themselves in terms of health effects.

Ethical production should also be considered, as the clothing you wear shouldn’t cost the same or less than your daily coffee because there are people behind making it, which is something to keep in mind. Once you have done your research or know what you are wearing, you will take better care of your clothing, fix it when it’s broken, pass it down, or resell it.

With MiliMilu, I want to create fashion that is simple, practical, yet trendy, easy to wear, and would become your favorite piece.

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?

We all share the same goal: creating a cleaner environment, reducing air pollution, minimizing drastic climate changes, and encouraging consumers to make better choices. There are many trendy and easy-to-wear sustainable brands available in various price ranges, from lower to higher.

By supporting smaller and local brands, you are supporting someone’s dream and also contributing to the local economy, which is currently important.Each of us contributes to climate change, so if each of us becomes a bit more conscious, it will make a significant impact.

2. For the consumers, what are the easiest ways that we can all be more sustainable in our approach to fashion?

Remember to wear the clothes you have and extend their lifespan by fixing them if needed and styling them in different ways.

Choose high-quality, sustainable fabrics so that your clothes will last. You can pass them along to others or find inventive ways to give them new life. Teach the next generation the value of sustainability to inspire them.

3. In your own eyes, how has becoming a sustainable designer changed your life?

I have definitely learned so much more about fabrics and new inventions towards reducing pollution. I have always been sustainable-focused and conscious about what I am buying and wearing (I also have very sensitive skin so synthetics were never for me).

But a big eye-opener for me was ethical production and how the quality of clothing has decreased over the years to ensure that we are buying more. I have to mention that I am a bit shocked at how little many of us know about the pace of fast, and nowadays, superfast fashion, or turn a blind eye to it.

4. People say that sustainable fashion is too expensive or too difficult to do. How do you usually respond to that?

Have you ever considered the true cost of clothing if it were priced as low as your cup of coffee? What conditions do you think the clothes are made in, and how much do you think the workers are paid? Recent research has shown that some fast fashion brands pay as little as 0.03 cents per clothing piece produced.

Furthermore, fast fashion items are often made from low-quality, synthetic fabrics that may irritate the skin and don’t last long, preventing them from being passed down or worn for an extended period, and most of this clothing will end in landfills after just a few, if any, wears.

Check out beautiful items from MiliMilu on Smthgood. Click here to shop now.

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