Exclusive Interview With Brand: Pyzis

Meet Arcadia Ang, the heart and soul behind Pyzis a brand that’s redefining sustainable fashion. Her journey from a business student with a penchant for vintage jewelry to an influential entrepreneur is a story of innovation and dedication.

Through her brand, Arcadia has successfully merged timeless design with sustainable practices, offering affordable eco-friendly fashion pieces while promoting circularity in the fashion industry.

Join us as we delve into her inspiring journey and vision for the future.

SECTION 1: ABOUT YOU

1. Would you share a bit about yourself and where you’re from?

I’m from Singapore, was a “run of the mill” business student with an uncommon passion for history and traveling and now a full-time entrepreneur with both this business and other ventures. I have always loved experimenting with a mix and match of unique jewelry and vintage pieces mixed with timeless designs for my apparel.

2. How did it all start?

We were a humble accessories shop on Carousell that sold jewelry, accessories and some apparels that I no longer had use for. Soon, we gathered a small but passionate fan base and then I took the brand up towards a fuller trajectory to try out retail and wholesale operations.

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

There has definitely been this in the plans, it was a matter of “when and how”. After doing enough research and during 2020 when there was lots of turmoil in the fashion market, it seemed like a good time to take the plunge and try something new.

We first started with existing fabric that we could rescue and then the next part was reusing lots of our jewelry parts and vintage jewelry to mix and match unique one of a kind pieces produced by our in-house artisan.

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

We used to be a very fast fashion business, but the thing with fast fashion is that there was lots of waste generated from it. One day our factory showed us all the bales of cloth from their other productions that were to be discarded, picture with me this horrid scene of bales left outside to the dump to rot as the factory and warehouses no longer had places to store them…and we thought there’d sincerely be a better use for all these resources.

Apart from this, due to changing trends and sizing misfits against our data gathered, we had some overstock too that could be repurposed. Hence the sustainable part of our business was born and every other sustainable project followed as if in serendipity.

SECTION 2: ABOUT YOUR BRAND

1. Could you tell us more about your label?

We are a wholesaler and retailer with an increasing focus on sustainability and sustainable methods of production, in both our materials and our methods. We also distribute sustainable skincare and makeup products as part of our range.

2. What is the ethos when you design?

We design easy to use and more versatile pieces with multiway usage from the fabric and natural materials that we source. These have to be comfortable on the body too!

2.1 And what defines your style?

Definitely a mix and match but timeless silhouettes and flexibility in different ways to wear an item would define our pieces.

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

Cost has definitely been a big one as not all factories are adequately prepared to support sustainable frameworks and some materials definitely cost more to source and process. Also, translating the ideas from sustainability into proper deliverables and goals that we can achieve is not the easiest to quantify of course.

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

I hope to establish a successful business with longevity to continue with our existing methods of sustainable production and to continue reducing fashion’s negative impact on our surroundings.

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?

You like cheap and pretty things and so do I, but what is the true cost of these? Supporting brands that are ethical and sustainable, and holding standards to keep brands responsible for the environment helps your next generation down the road have an even better environment to live in – nobody wants to suffer, and neither should you and your family.

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

It doesn’t have to be inconvenient to improve sustainability in your lifestyle. The most simple way would be to find ways to rewear your existing clothes and changing a preference to lasting materials or recycled materials over trend-based fashion. Establishing your own style rather than following a trend makes sense too.

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

It made me much more conscious of what I buy, especially with regards to materials and to reusability of my purchases. I tend to avoid buying what I cannot reuse, and what I can’t recycle either to prevent existing environmental issues from exacerbating.

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

It might be too expensive or difficult to access right now as the entire industry is still more on the left side of the curve and plenty of practices haven’t been established enough, but down the road as technology improves and the way we make things change, I believe these problems will come to a better resolution.

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

____________________________________________________________________

Shop these wonderful sustainable & ethical brands on the Smthgood App. 
The home of conscious fashion that is paired with a unique & gamified Lookbook Styling Tool.
Now available on the Google PlayStore & Apple AppStore.
Download now & earn double cashback coins on your first purchase.

For more articles, visit THE GOODNEWS for the latest fashion intel on conscious fashion!

For more information please visit www.smthgoodco.com