Writing by Avantelier, Photo｜proofreading by Saywood team
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. We know the specific day was past. However, Avantelier’s mission is to continue promoting female professionals who follow our ethos in protecting our world. We named mission #Aの38. The Avantelier team is humble to learn from their manifesto, the growth process, the path of solving problems, current projects and so on.
Harriet’s friendly smile on the screen started our conversation. She introduced her collection, the inspiration and brand history to us. Her brand, named SAYWOOD., has been running for 2 and a half years. It is a start-up brand and we appreciated her insistence on sustainability, not only using eco-friendly materials and waste-cutting production with an ambition for zero waste but also ensuring equal pay to the factory she collaborates with. She never gave up on sustainable fashion, even though she knows eco-friendly materials and equal pay cost more and means her pricing is less competitive in the fashion industry. However, Harriet’s eyes looked insistent: she shrugged her shoulders and had a what-else-she-could-do smile. We all love and care about our environment, but how to survive and balance well between commercial and sustainability is always the best challenge for everyone.
In her creation, Harriet combined British features and Japanese features, such as Japanese denim, corozo buttons, classic gentleman’s tailor and so on. The buttons are produced by a British heritage button company. We can see that her dedication to the environment is all-around.
” Our love for designs that respect the planet goes down to the details.” Harriet Saywood-Bellisario.
As an independent brand, she still contributes her passion for green fashion to her customers and insists on producing ethical and eco-friendly items. Harriet promotes her brand’s ethos and story layer by layer to her followers. She never forgets why she started, and we believe her mission will be accomplished. You can have further details about her sustainability efforts and her latest plans on her social media and website.
A brief about Harriet Saywood-Bellisario, a founder and sustainable fashion brand designer. She has been running Saywood since 2020.
She worked at Paul Smith, Richard Nicoll and Label/Mix. The experience nourished her horizon of fashion creation. The starting points of the Saywood collections each season are classics contemporised with unexpected details. In each collection, she and her team deliver beautiful edits of wardrobe essentials; for their first capsule, they focused on shirting. Both modern and timeless, each piece is made to be worn and re-worn.
Q: What are the biggest challenges for you on the project you have done? How did you solve the issues?
H: Running a fashion business is the biggest challenge for me, I learned a lot in my Year 2. I realise having consultants and coaching support is very helpful for me and my brand, they gave me advice I did not think about, solving my blind areas. They are my close partner, family and friends. I feel grateful to have them, especially my father, he gives me relative suggestions and support as he has his own business as well. He understands my situation. How to run a brand? I advise just doing it. You will reshape your brand, again and again, learning along the way, until it becomes what you are looking for.
Q: What’s your plan for this year?
H: We have a pop-up store on 17th – 30th April 2023, at 658 High Road. Leyton, London E10 6JP. Also, another one from 29th May – 2nd June 2023 in White City Studio | Soho House, 101 Wood Ln, London W12 7FA. We are looking forward to seeing Avantelier viewers there.
