Ethical Brands: Elise Fayre; Bringing Premium Ethical Wedding Dresses to the Mainstream
by Hanan in Culture & Lifestyle on 28th November, 2018
Elise Fayre is an up and coming British bespoke and ready-to-wear occasion brand that seeks to bring about beautiful and unique embroidered bespoke pieces, with an emphasis on timeless design and ethics. All the garments are ethically sourced and put together, artisans are valued, and materials are rich. I sat down with the team behind Elise Fayre to discuss inspiration, influences, artisans, and all things bridal…
1. Tell me a little about yourselves?
We are a small collective based in London, who all have a great love of beautiful, elegant and timeless design. We are a small contemporary British brand that is intent on building up our values as an ethical, premium bespoke and ready-to-wear atelier.
2. What triggered the start of this company?
There was a need for us to create gowns that we felt reflected our taste and love of timeless design but also make modest premium wear accessible, and that manifests in having its roots in ethical trade as well. We are passionate about creating income opportunities for generations to come, and paying artisans and private creatives to empower their work and local communities. This includes artisans in London.
3. How long did it take from its idea & inception to right now?
It has been about a year in the making, and we had a soft launch in May, but we are gearing up to release our second collection at some point early next year.
4. Who is your demographic?
We welcome women from all backgrounds to work with us on creating their own gowns for any occasion, who have a keen eye for high-quality garments with a story.
5. What was the aim through creating this company?
We wanted to make premium design and high-quality garments accessible to women from all backgrounds at different price points. The reason there is a range of price points is due to paying our artisans well, while producing the same quality garments you will find in some of the worlds most premium brands.
6. You all have jobs, how do you manage to juggle a business on the side?
I think you have to remain flexible for the sake of your goals and make sure it is a priority over other areas of your life, organisation of time plays a massive role, and you learn that on the job.
7. What makes the brand ethical?
We have a transparent supply chain, we work with artisans from a range of backgrounds, and we also put a huge emphasis on trying to ensure that the customer’s rights are upheld. Humanising whoever is behind making the garments as well as who is on the receiving end of them is really important to us, it’s a massive part of our story in the making. An essential part of this process is that we are honest and nice to our customers, and try to establish a good working relationship with every one of them, including the brides, who of which we have been privileged to work with.
8. Tell me about the kinds of brides that have come to you…
We have had women from around the world get in touch with us! We’ve been fortunate enough to have some of our clients come and visit us from abroad, including Australia, Lebanon, and India to name a few, and this is a lovely part of the process. We get a real mix of customers who are passionate about good design and sourcing it with a good story behind it.
9. Who in the world of design have been inspirational for you?
So many to choose from! A few of our favourite designers have to be Oscar De La Renta, Elie Saab, Marchesa, Ralph and Russo, Sabyasachi and Valentino.
10. Tell us about your experience in design…
We all come from a creative background, and that’s manifested differently for each of us. Collectively we have about 15 years experience in the industry, but have a wide range of passions as individuals that have played out in our diverse career choices and hobbies. The one commonality that brings us together is our dedication to this creative outlet.
11. Where do you hope to be in 5 years?
Hopefully, still working with women and artisans from around the world and continuing a tradition of creativity. Our dream is to create a family business for ourselves and for those we work with, making opportunities for generations to come.
12. Who do you most want to dress one day?
Definitely Deepika Padukone! She has a supreme elegance and timelessness about her.
Follow the journey of these marvellous women online. Follow for inspo on Instagram!
Hanan
Hanan has a Masters in Media in the Middle East from SOAS University. Trainee of the Muslim Women in Media institute Annual Cohort at UC Davis, California. Her interests lie in ethical fashion, modern-day slavery, and when not making Youtube videos she is somewhere in between Ballet and Kickboxing. King Julian is her spirit animal.
