INTERVIEW #69 FREYA SIMONNE

Based in: London

Founded in: 2020

Founded by: Freya Simonne Rabet

Price range: £16- £425

Instagram: @freyasimonne

Welcome to A Sustainable Closet! We absolutely love and adore you creations, can you please tell us more about how it all started and why? 

It started in the first lockdown without really realising it. I just started reworking a few pieces of purely for enjoyment and it has all grown very organically from there. For me having worked in the fashion industry as a designer for almost a decade before committing full time to Freya Simonne at the end of last May, it was always the amount of waste produced that bothered me the most. So it was only natural I suppose that my business would be founded on the principle of only using what already exists to protect mother earth and the precious resources she has left!

Your clothes seems to be all upcycled, how do you source the materials and what challenges are you facing with this choice of production?

I source my materials everywhere and anywhere. A lot from online marketplaces and also charity shops, carboots that kind of thing. In terms of challenges it just takes a bit more time to source the right fabrics especially for bigger collaborations/orders and also finding the right people to make the clothes as each piece can be a tiny bit different depending on the material so you have to find people that are also as passionate about you and willing to take the time the pieces deserve.

Many of your creations are very feminine and romantic, what is your intention when creating and where do you find inspiration?

I think it is a combination of what I am drawn to naturally as a designer and also what I love to wear. My intention is to create timeless forever pieces of clothing that people fall in love with and will hopefully pass down and keep for generations. My inspiration can come from anywhere, often including interiors, art and nature.

Honestly, how long does it take to create a dress?

Honestly around 6 hours to cut out and make one dress if you being super speedy and with minimal breaks.

What is your best selling product and who is your typical costumer?

It is probably the Fayette dress, with the Simonne Jacket a close second. I actually have such a wide variety of customers I couldn’t really narrow it down and it’s something that I really love that the brand can connect with such a wide variety of women from young art students to ladies that recognise the bedding from when they were young.

What do you think needs to change in the fashion industry to make it more sustainable? 

I think a sharing and pooling of knowledge and resources would go a long way at every level of the industry. To make real change we are going to have to work together.

What do you believe is “greenwashing” and what can producers and consumers do to avoid it? 

Companies using words and marketing that imply they are doing things sustainably when in actual fact they’re not really. I think taking a bit of time to learn and research about the company you are buying your clothes from especially in terms of where they manufacture their clothes and how those people are treated and then also learning about technical things like the fabric your clothing is made in will really help you understand how much resources go into each piece of clothing and understand wether what they are claiming to be sustainable actually is.