"Slow fashion" — a term that has risen to social awareness in recent years and one that COQOON lives by faithfully. It's not often we see brands that not only advocate for mindful consumerism but also giving back to the community, but COQOON is determined to be one of the carriers of this beacon of light.
What do you hope to achieve with your brand?
We wish to gradually change society’s mindset and alter their consumption habits to live more mindfully: for consumers to be more mindful of each purchase to avoid impulse and excessive buying; to stop treating fashion pieces as disposable pieces that have an “expiration date”.
We also hope that through COQOON, we can build a community that provides job opportunities to support skilled and experienced seamstresses and crafters.
What does it mean to be a “slow fashion” brand?
As a slow fashion brand, we advocate sustainable and ethical fashion, and produce our products with respect to the people and the environment. We manufacture ethically in small quantities, using high quality natural materials to reduce carbon footprint and ensuring that our products have long shelf lives. We champion the craftsmanship of local artisans to empower and support fellow females.
What is one lesson you’ve gleaned from managing your brand thus far?
To keep ourselves going and remain positive; patience is the key as we embark on this long uphill journey full of continuous learning and improvements. Not only are we generating awareness for our new brand, we are also challenging consumers to question their lifelong shopping and purchasing habits — that takes time. Not everyone sees the value of slow fashion and what we are advocating and is willing to pay for the price tag that comes with it (because of the pricing benchmark set by fast fashion).
Where do you normally source materials for your products?
As we are still very new and on our exploratory and assessment stage, we are currently sourcing our materials from everywhere, all over the world - some are imported, some are from local suppliers who import the materials in. We are not contracted to any suppliers at the moment. Our aim is to be able to source our materials from suppliers who share the same values as us, who would prioritize sustainability, quality, transparency and ethical manufacturing throughout their entire supply chain, and that’s a real challenge in itself.
Not everyone sees the value of slow fashion and what we are advocating and is willing to pay for the price tag that comes with it
What is the best part about managing your brand?
The best part is seeing the brand come to life, exactly like how we envision it in our mind. And it brings us so much joy knowing that every piece we make gives meaningful impact to society beyond being a sustainable fashion piece, and that there are people out there who appreciate and love what we do.
Comments