What gave you the confidence that you would be able to say true to your roots and yet also manage growth? WL: Helming a clothing line is a large undertaking, but building a line that, from the ground up, is ecologically-minded and forward thinking is an even more difficult task. I still meet people all the time who let me know that they found us at festivals and then became lifelong customers. Selling at festivals was a great experience for us and it was lovely to see so many small emerging creative businesses being supported by the communities that sprang up at festivals. It was also a lot of fun to have festivals as the back drop of our work: we met a lot of great people from all over the country and it helped us to build a great community. It was a great way to get our brand out there, build our customer base, and to connect with people who shared our sustainable values. ![]() Soon after that, I started selling at festivals. Kate Fisher: Yes, indeed! My original roots in the clothing business actually emerged from selling my wares in the Grateful Dead parking lot! It was an amazing free marketplace to sell in, like a huge traveling music gypsy festival. Can you tell us a bit about how events that built community around sustainable values played a part in the early years of your brand? But in fact, these types of gatherings have been part of many modern brands’ growth. Hippie festivals, gatherings about peace and love… to many, those might seem like throwback memories. Wanderlust: The roots of your sustainable clothing journey run deep, and in fact, run through the tapestry of Wanderlust events of yore. Learn more about how this female founder is making it work. Sustainable style has inherent challenges, and Fisher has navigated them during the added pressures of a global pandemic. We sat down with Fisher to learn a little more about this evolution, and to talk about how community has played a part in WVN’s growth. WVN is the culmination of nearly three decades of experience building a large-scale women’s clothing brand while staying true to the original goal of doing great fashion the right way. After pivoting to all organic fabrics, she founded Synergy with her husband and business partner, Henry Schwab. Who are Kate and Henry? They’re the souls behind Synergy Organic Clothing, which has now grown up and become WVN: a certified B Corp that uses Fair Trade factories to create truly beautiful (and sustainable) clothing. Kate began her first apparel business in 1993 when she began selling clothes from her travels in India and Nepal at Grateful Dead concerts. The threads that I’d worn each summer, hosting the Speakeasy at every summer festival, had now found racks beyond our beloved dusty artisan vending, the Kula Market, and were now in the premiere market for conscious consumers in the USA. That’s the same feeling I had when I first saw Synergy in Whole Foods. (See: a bunch of yogis tuning in to The Voice for the first time when our magical musical minstrel, Thunderstorm Artis, was about to take top prize, singing Blackbird and making all of America teary). So, when one of your family members grows legs and is suddenly visible beyond our festival fringes, it’s exciting for all of us in the Wanderfam. From teachers to guests, from vendors to our mountain hosts, each year our shared experiences in seeking made us closer. When you multiply that by the number of events we’d do in a year, and the number of seasons we’d put up the tents… then these connections start to run deep. ![]() Anyone who has been to a Wanderlust Festival knows that there’s a palpable sense of community that emerges after four days of mindful adventuring.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |