Our Story
We first learnt about the disastrous effect of fast fashion during the summer of 2018 after watching the award winning documentary ‘The True Cost’. Sitting in Hyde Park in London on a warm summer afternoon, chatting about sustainable clothing brands, we realised something was missing.
Although we were excited to see various sustainable clothing brands rising against fast fashion chains, none of them really captured the vision of what we wanted sustainable clothing to look like.
Whereas most sustainable clothing brands are going for the practical, minimal, basic and sometimes genderless look, we want to associate sustainable clothing with uniqueness, quality, elegance and femininity.
We envision sustainable fashion to be more than just a basic white tee.
We got so excited about our ideas and designs that we couldn’t stop talking about it. There was nothing left to do but start! We spent months learning about sustainable textiles, design and pattern cutting. And when we were ready, we decided to base our brand in Peru. This is because South America has an innovative and growing eco-fashion industry, which we knew would provide plenty of opportunities to combine social and environmental sustainability.
We decided to partner with Incalpaca, a Peruvian sustainable Alpaca Wool supplier that produces incredibly soft fabrics, and with Ecobotoes, a Brazilian producer of sustainable buttons and buckles.
Inspiration
As young women living in London, one of the world's fashion capitals, we continue to notice a lack of tailoring in both fast-fashion and sustainable clothes. It has become extremely hard to find items that fit you perfectly because of the massive scale at which items are being produced.
The lack of tailoring has also come hand-in-hand with a return to basic genderless lines. Although we are incredibly proud to be part of a generation that is very open-minded, supportive and equal towards women and men, we still crave clothes that accentuate the female figure. By creating items of clothing tailored to feminine shapes, we envision a brand inspired by vintage details.
Vintage Style
We cannot help but fall in love when we look back at female icons such as Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn, status symbols of delicacy, elegance and femininity, yet empowered. We imagine our clients just like them, independent and elegant city women (very much wearing coats like The Joanna and Anna Coat).
Fast fashion manufacturers and designers noticed how much easier and faster it would be to drop the tailoring in their designs and because of this, clothes have lost their shape. Instead, our clothes focus on being staple, tailored, long-lasting products that unites vintage with modern styles.
The Future for Safi
Safi is a small project for now, but we have big plans for the future! We would like to be able to create beautifully sustainable summer dresses and other accessories too by collaborating with amazing sustainable suppliers we found in Brazil.
Alongside that, we would like to work closely with the Peruvian Alpaca Wool workers community in order to discover ways in which we can support our manufacturer workers (as mentioned in Sustainable Social) whilst expanding our catalogue.
However, we are just two girls running the whole show! We are open to receive any feedback or any help to keep this project alive and growing.
If you believe in our mission, feel free to help us by either becoming our sponsor or simply by becoming one of our new lovely customers (subscribe below)!
Feel free to contact us at team@safi-the-brand.com for more information.