INTERVIEW: BYGINNY

The next interview for our #Otherfinds launch campaign is Ginny from ByGinny., who is going to give us an insight on her brand and her involvement in the streetwear community:

Image Source: ByGinny.

Hi, thanks for being involved in this platform highlighting ethical streetwear, can you tell us a bit about your brand?

byginny. is a start-up brand that offers handmade apparel, made in Manchester. We promote slow fashion by offering made-to-order garments or garments in low quantity, limited drops. We’re a small business aiming to grow into a popular sustainable brand in the fashion industry.

When/where would you say you realised that you wanted to create/ be involved in a brand that In some way moves towards more ethical involvement?

Working in the fast fashion industry opened my eyes to how damaging fast fashion can be to our environment, so I knew that when I started my brand, I wanted to focus on being as ethical as I possibly could.

Having come from a business background, studying business management at university, I have an understanding of how important it is for businesses to be forward-thinking. There is a massive push for brands both big and small to be accountable for how they impact our environment and society. If businesses are not demonstrating ethical practices today, eventually they would have to adapt to societal changes in the future, so ultimately, having ethical involvement within my brand was a no-brainer. Why be the last to make positive changes when you could be the first!

What are some of the hardships that you feel you are potentially faced with when being involved in an ethically focused brand?

Due to being a start-up brand, we’ve found it extremely difficult to find cost-effective ways to be sustainable on our smaller budget. Since all of our current products are made completely from scratch by hand, we have to source a lot of our supplies. Whilst sustainable fabrics, such as recycled fabrics are widely available on the market, they’re not currently within our budget, therefore, compromises had to be made on where we could be sustainable and where we could not for the time being.

An example of this would be, our packaging is all 100% biodegradable but our tote bags are made of natural cotton. Cotton is more environmentally friendly than fabrics such as polyester, but there are environmental costs to cotton such as the environmental harm it takes to produce cotton. These are the moral conundrums we face with every product we produce. But of course, our end goal is to eventually be able to be as sustainable as we can.

Image Source: ByGinny.

What is the most rewarding thing about ethical streetwear to you?

The most rewarding thing about ethical streetwear to me is that fashion can be explored and expressed without harming the environment and society. Customers are free to consume fashion without having to worry about the consequences behind a garment. For those customers who don’t shop ethically but happen to come across a piece they like, they will end up supporting ethical fashion without even realising it, creating more awareness of the importance of ethical fashion.

If you could see into the future of the ethical streetwear market, what would you like it to look like?

I would love for ethical fashion to be so widely adopted that there isn’t a need for ethical practices to become a marketing tactic like greenwashing. I would love for all fashion brands to be ethical as standard.

Finally, the launch campaign of this brand is centered around ‘other finds’, which could be anything from a piece of streetwear purchased second hand, swapped with a friend, or even buying a new product that is focused around more ethical practices, what is your favourite ‘other find’? (You are allowed to pick your own brand aha)

My personal favourite “other find” has got to be my favourite pair of Levi Wedgie Straight Jeans that I found at a thrift shop. They’re not a vintage style or anything but they have been discontinued, so I love the fact that they’re a little bit unique. I feel like nothing fits better than some second-hand denim.

Image Source: ByGinny.

Check out ByGinny. On their platforms:

Website: ByGinny Shop

Instagram: @byginny.