At the forefront of fashion label All the Wild Roses business is equality, sustainably and ethical design! Having reached B Corp certification owner Hang has worked hard over 10 years to strengthen her business and growth, providing a platform to covet. Using end of run fabrics ATWR designs clothing that is effortless and timeless so it transcends seasons & trends and hopefully becomes the next generation of vintage.
Read on to discover Hang’s business journey to B Corp Certification and her vision for the future of All the Wild Roses!
Can you share the story behind All The Wild Roses? Who works with you on your label?
All The Wild Roses started as a way of creating access to the global market for a group of clothing makers from Hai Phong, a city north of Vietnam where I was born. It was very much inspired by my trip to Vietnam when I was 19 yrs old. It opened my eyes to the inequalities that existed in the world, and the fact that my extended family was impacted by it made it personal, so I set out to find a way to help create an opportunity to assist them in anyway I could.
Our brand continues to run as a very small, self-funded and independent operation, with an all-female team, we work with six makers in their workshop located in Hai Phong Vietnam collaborating with an Australian based team, for the moment, a one-woman team – me! But luckily we have many amazing creatives that we collaborate with from time who help us with many other aspects of the business such as marketing & website management.
Congrats on your label being Certified B Corp! What does it mean to be B Corp certified and why was it so important for your business?
We started on our journey 10 years ago and at the time, the awareness of ethical & sustainable ways of doing business was not what it is now. So it was more difficult to articulate what we were trying to do with our brand at the time.
We just knew we wanted to create something that was going to serve the makers we wanted to support, that together we could create beautiful things that our customers would love and do it in a way that was not wasteful in terms of resources that we use along the way. So when we discovered the B Corp community, it felt like home and really tied into everything that we cared about and have been doing as a brand for a long time.
It was a proud day when we officially became one of five apparel brands in Australia to become a Certified B Corp® , alongside leaders in sustainable fashion, Patagonia, Outland Denim, & Veja. It was really important for us to undertake a rigorous independent verification process & know that we’re taking steps in the right direction to making a difference through what we do.
What do you love most about summer? Can you share your favourite go-to outfit from All The Wild Roses on the Finders Keepers Marketplace ?
The best thing about summer is the outdoors and enjoying time in the sun & I just find spring and summer bring out the feeling of freedom & joy in everyone which is contagious and that’s great. It’s so hard to pick a go-to outfit, but if I have to choose it would be the Marley dress!
The colours and free-flowing style of this dress mean you can dress it up or down so it makes it easy to step from the beach to brunch etc, really effortless which is how summer dressing should be!
I think a white dress is just as important as a black dress, and the Marley is made from the most amazing textured embroidered cotton. That’s really rare to find and gives all the vintage feels that we love about designing.
What is your creative process and who or what keeps you inspired?
Our designs always start with the fabrics we find, we use surplus/deadstock fabric which we take and upcycle to use in our collections.
We source these fabrics from remnant fabric suppliers in Australia, India and Vietnam. So depending on what we discover through the process of curating them, that will be the inspiration for what we design.
We’re always designing clothing that is effortless and timeless so it transcends seasons & trends and hopefully becomes the next generation of vintage.
What plans and hopes do you have for All The Wild Roses in 2020 and beyond?
We do have a wishlist of plans for All The Wild Roses in 2020 and beyond:
- We’d love to create new accessories and related products to use our off-cuts from our own designs;
- We’d love to do ATWR on tour around Australia to launch our timeless made to order collection – dresses that you keep forever, but each piece is unique as the customer will be able to select their own print from our curated collection of upcycled fabrics.
- We’d love to collaborate in more Pop-up space like what we’re doing with our friends Sustainable Wardrobe Sydney, in 361 Darling Street, Balmain NSW.
- In terms of beyond 2020, we’re working in a way we could viably take our own designs & sell those that are in the condition to be resold as vintage and then recycled or recreate other items from them (which is what we’re currently doing with our vintage collection we currently source from the 70’s and 80’s).
Now all we need is to get the investment funds or collaborators to do it all, so anyone interested we’re all ears 🙂
Bonus Q: What’s on the spring/summer wishlist at this years Finders Keepers marketplace ?
Oh I have a few I’m loving, I’ve got a few camping adventures planned so the incredible Bell tent by The Seek Society would be ideal. Plus the traveling Yoga Mat, made from Natural Cork from I am that – yoga!
