Designed with art. Designed with culture. Designed with story.™
FAEBELLA BLOG
22 OCTOBER, 2020
THE MOVE TO ECO-FRIENDLY FABRICS
ALISHA JAYNE|FOUNDER|FAEBELLA
Why the move to eco-friendly fabrics?
When Faebella was just an idea, it was important to me to have the brand be a physical embodiment of all of the positive values of indigenous people. The messaging in the media about fifty years ago or so (and sometimes, still today) about my people seemed to almost always have a negative tilt. So I wanted to use the brand to remind people that we have something beautiful to offer as the oldest surviving culture in the world. And one of these values was our love for the land.
THE CHALLENGES
I knew it was not common for activewear to be environmentally-friendly. It is challenging to provide eco-friendly fabrics for clothing that needs to be flexible but also stable at the same time. Activewear leggings and short's in particular needed to be comfortable but thick enough to conceal the wearer's underwear. The other challenge was with having all Faebella activewear made in Australia, there are less options available especially cost-effective options for working with garments.
THE BREAKTHROUGH
The manufacturer I work with in Brisbane is really easy to work with. I made my intentions clear about hopefully incorporating environmentally-friendly fabrics and they took the time to explain thoroughly all the considerations that naturally came with such a move. The first of these explanations was that incorporating eco-friendly fabrics was easier with the t-shirts and singlets which I expected. Fortunately, my manufacturer had connections with a fabric company that specialised in recycled fabrics, those that are made up of recycled waterbottles for examples.
THE FIRST ECO-FRIENDLY PRODUCT
Learning that I could introduce gym singlets that not only incorporated incredible indigenous artwork's and stories but that were also made of recycled waterbottles got me very excited! I quickly set to getting singlet's designed as previously Faebella activewear was made up of short's and legging's only.
I got our in-house designer to create a range of singlets which thankfully took them only about a week or so. I then sent the singlet designs to the manufacturer. Two weeks later, Faebella was introducing its first eco-friendly line of gym singlets.
I'd been able to use eco-friendly packaging for product orders for quite a while but this was the first time, I could let Faebella fans know that we used eco-friendly fabrics to make our products.
ALL FAEBELLA ACTIVEWEAR IS ECO-FRIENDLY
Using eco-friendly fabrics for the other Faebella products, being legging's and short's was the hard part. The fabrics for these products had already gone through a couple changes. In its first iteration, the product fabric I worked with was decent and comfortable. But a common issue with legging's was the material being stressed in the back and becoming quite sheer, which was a common problem for coloured legging's.
This is why a lot of brands prefer to stick to a black legging but incorporating indigenous artwork made this impossible for me. I had to ensure the colours looked bright and amazing but that the wearer was protected sufficiently. In its second iteration, the fabric I used for the leggings and shorts was a bit thicker but still comfortable enough to want to wear all day. I was happy with this material.
So the move to eco-friendly fabrics was one I took with care and caution. The same company that had supplied the recycled waterbottle singlets offered recycled lycra for legging's and short's. I quickly ordered a sample round.
This fabric experiment fortunately coincided with a release of a new design. With new designs, I always order a small batch which I put up for pre-order for a specific date. So I ordered the batch with all of the new recycled lycra fabrics.
Three-weeks later the new designs arrived and I quickly grabbed one for myself. I then carried out the granny panty test. This test requires me to put on my thickest pair of granny panties. I put these on followed by the new leggings. Then I stood in front of a mirror, bent over and looked.
...the fabric passed! Recycled lycra had the same comfort of the previous fabrics, but the same sturdiness. I now get all Faebella short's and legging's made in recycled lycra. The plan so as not to confuse shopper's is to sell activewear made in the previous fabrics at a discounted price. So keep your eye out for our sale!
Move over blueberries!
Did you know Australia grows some of the best superfoods in the world? Including the Kakadu Plum which broke the world record for being a fruit with the highest amount of Vitamin C. Sign up below to receive your copy of our '10 Native Australian Fruits' guide FREE.
Want to give someone a beautiful gift incorporating Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander art, culture or stories?
