So far, this blog has focused on communicating information found in research papers, journals and online articles. As part of the effort to understand the industry even better, I have approached an expert involved in a local sustainable fashion business, Feel Archives. Throughout my interview with its founder, Felicia, we learn the concerns businesses have and why environmental pollution remains a problem that is extremely difficult to overcome in this industry. With the permission of Felicia, I have transcribed and paraphrased her answers below.
(Source: https://feelarchives.com)
The Interview
Could you briefly introduce Feel Archives ?
Feel Archives is a passion project founded in 2021. As Felicia was learning about the fashion industry throughout her study of fashion design in Temasek Polytechnic, she was exposed to the harmful impacts the industry has on the planet and people. “Majority of the fashion brands out there have at least one harmful practice to the environment”. With this sentiment, she felt extremely bumped out and discouraged. However, in pursuit of her dream, Felicia began looking for business models that ensured sustainable and ethical practices, while remaining relevant to the market.
How is Feel Archives different from other companies in Singapore?
Interestingly, Felicia notes that most sustainable businesses in Singapore aim for a minimalist aesthetic. This is not a shocking factor as naturally, minimalist basics are suitable to act as staples that can be re-worn multiple times. This versatility is crucial in ensuring that we do not just throw away a piece of clothing as it goes out of trend or due to lack of usage. Feel Archives, however, aims to create outfits that are fun and creative, one that customers will love, enjoy and invest their money in. The value of Feel Archives’ collections is therefore not in the number of times the clothing is worn, or how many outfits it can be paired with. Rather, it is to help customers see the value in keeping a piece of clothing.
Additionally, each garment is also customized to fit-to-size. In contrast to fast fashion where sizes are generalized (for eg. XS - XL), customized sizes ensure that the clothing fits its user perfectly. This can potentially reduce events where a purchase is wasted due to mismatch in cutting and fitting of the clothing. Also, if the clothes are made to fit, customers are more inclined to utilize it frequently as they look visually better.
In what ways are Feel Archives sustainable?
The main way to be sustainable is to not contribute to more pollution. The best practice is to utilize what we already have through upcycling methods. This is exactly how Feel Archives operates. By only using deadstock fabric, which are fabrics that are thrown away due to lack of retail value, Felicia is able to use them efficiently to make new garments instead of leaving them to waste in our landfills.
Large companies often produce and purchase large rolls of textiles that eventually become under utilized or out of season. Instead of going through the hassle of selling such fabric, the most cost-efficient way is to discard them. Making full use of such deadstock fabric not only reduces waste, but also reduces the need for businesses to produce new textiles altogether.
Furthermore, with regards to packaging, Felicia mentioned her difficulty in making them 100% sustainable. As a new business, she compromises by using recycled materials such as cardboard boxes and printing only on soy-based materials to ensure they are biodegradable. Her ultimate goal is to achieve zero-waste, though this remains an aspiration for now.
What difficulties in making your business less pollutive?
“In order to reduce the rate of damage to the environment, our rate of production needs to be lowered significantly”. Felicia laments that due to the goal to reduce waste through methods such as customization and using deadstock fabric, her rate of production is extremely slow and inefficient. It is the opposite of fast fashion, essentially, production volume and speed is inevitably less. While this has been beneficial for the environment, she voices how such practices are rather damaging in terms of her marginal profits.
In addition, as resources such as soy packaging are less readily available, they are also more expensive to implement. Alongside the higher costs of customized clothes, these expenses pile up and make it even harder for sustainable businesses to adopt more and more environmentally friendly practices. For example, if possible, Felicia hopes to acquire enough revenue to implement materials such as Mushroom Leather one day.
Why do you think people still go for fast fashion?
As predicted, cost is the biggest factor driving the success of fast fashion. However, I thought Felicia brought up an extremely valid point. It is a privilege to be able to purchase sustainable products because yes, they do tend to cost more. However, if consumers are purchasing large volumes of fast fashion products, it is evident that purchasing power is not the hindrance but the culture of overconsumption of goods is.
Such hauls may also be justified if perhaps one utilizes these clothes frequently and for long periods of time. However, reality tends to be the opposite. It is not surprising to find consumers disposing these garments easily since they didn’t cost much in the first place.
Any comments regarding the future of fashion?
The metaverse seems like a rather optimistic outlook for us in terms of lowering environmental damage. As we move on to a new culture in this digital age, digital fashion products are increasingly popular. This can perhaps lower the need to produce and buy more physical goods, and transfer the consumer’s needs to be gratified online instead.
I guess till then, the situation remains bleak.
I hope you enjoyed my interview with Feel Archives and took away a thing or two regarding the dilemmas faced by small sustainable businesses. A huge shout out to Felicia for taking your time to answer my questions! For those that are interested in supporting sustainable fashion, do check out @feelarchives on instagram!
Till next time,
Hui Jie
Commentaires