Listen to the episode
45. Ask Us Anything (Nicole visits Ada in Colorado!) – The Asian Sewist Collective Podcast
Links
Patterns & Designers mentioned
Linen Coaster DIY Sewing Kit by Fibr and Cloth
Arden Pants by Helen’s Closet
Clyde Pants by Elizabeth Suzann
Luna Tank by Helen’s Closet
Nikko Top by True Bias
Fabric Stores mentioned
Blackbird Fabrics, Canada-based, carries a variety of sustainable woven and knits
Resources
@shoplovanie on Instagram
https://www.lovanie.com/ Lovanie Website
Ep 3: Pattern Testing with Nandita Show Notes
Ep 13 Mindful Fabric Selection Part 1 Show Notes
Ep 14 Mindful Fabric Selection Part 2 Show Notes
Show transcript
Nicole: I mean, did you say, two to three days?
Ada: Yeah, it was a little ridiculous. I also might have been sewing during a Zoom call.
Nicole: I won’t tell
—
Ada: Welcome to the Asian Sewist Collective podcast. The Asian Sewist Collective is a group of Asian people from around the world brought together by our shared appreciation for fibre and textile arts, and our desire to see more Asian representation in the sewing community. In this podcast, we explore the intersection of our identities and our shared sewing practice as we create a space for Asian sewists and our allies. I’m your co-host, Ada Chen, and I’m recording from Denver, Colorado. Denver is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. I’m a Taiwanese-American marketer turned entrepreneur and these days you’ll find me running my own all natural skincare business called Chuan Skincare – that’s C-H-U-A-N – and sharing my marketing tips on my blog, The Cultivate Method. Most importantly for this podcast, you can find my sewing at @i.hope.sew on Instagram.
Nicole: And I’m your co-host, Nicole. I’m based out of Chicago, Illinois, the original homelands of the Council of the Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Odawa people. I’m Filipinx-American, and I’m a woman, and a lawyer by day and a sewing enthusiast the rest of the time. You can find me on Instagram at @nicoleangelinesews.
Ada: Before we dive into this week’s episode, Nicole, can you tell us about your current sewing project?
Nicole: I don’t have anything specific on my table. I think the last few episodes, I’ve said I don’t really know what to do next, I’ve been in a bit of a funk. So we’re recording in October. Hopefully by the time you hear this, I’m no longer in that funk. But we shall see. I was sick for a couple days this week too. So that really killed my mojo, or Sew-Jo, rather. But when I was actually able to sit up, and I was awake, I did some hand sewing. And that’s why I said, I have visual aids for you today, because I wanted to show you what I did. Do you want to see, Ada? I know you do.
Ada: Yeah. Yeah.
Nicole: If you don’t, it’s okay.
Ada: I mean, I know what the coasters look like. I know what they were theoretically supposed to look like.
Nicole: [laughs] They’re fantastic. So I’ll say that the coasters are inspired by Alexis from Fibr & Cloth Studio, she just released a hand sewing coaster kit. It is really simple. I haven’t received it yet. But I did receive the instruction. So I was like, hmm, we’ll try it. And it’s really nice and relaxing, and really satisfying. It takes a long time. But it is sort of a perfect thing when you can’t do anything. But I want to show you because I’m super proud of them. And for our listeners, this is a podcast, so you’re not gonna be able to see it. But whenever we have the video up, you could see it and maybe we could splice this out for our Kofi supporters so they can see because it’s amazing. [whispers] Isn’t that amazing. But it’s fun.
Ada: Oh, it’s cute.
Nicole: This is the first one. Yeah, so these are chambray scraps. And so I was practicing my running stitch. How even and amazing is that? Thank you for all the claps. And then I was like, You know what I like? I like stars. We’ve talked about this, right?
Ada: Yes, we have. Yeah, you like star print a lot?
Nicole: Like, it’s… I’m still seven years old. I love it. Look how cute that is.
Ada: Oh, that’s so cute. Is it a constellation of any…?
Nicole: It is not.
Ada: Okay. So for listeners, it’s a bunch of yellow stars embroidered onto this coaster.
Nicole: Yeah. And then I was like, This is great. This is the ones I made when I was ill. But the back doesn’t look great.
Ada: You only see one side of a coaster when you use it.
Nicole: True story. And then I made another one with the salmon color on blue
Ada: Pink, pink on blue
Nicole: …and still the same. And then I was like, maybe try something different. I don’t have any more of those blue scraps. I still have more of the blue fabric though.
Ada: Oh, so you were only catching one layer. So now listeners there’s no knottage on the other side of the coaster.
Nicole: I am very proud of these. They are super cute. And what I actually did instead was, I clipped or pinned the innards, which is supposed to be batting. But I’m like, hmm, I’ll use something else. So the inside is actually scuba knit scrap. So I pinned those chambray to the scuba knit scrap, and then I did the stars. And then I put the other layer over it and yada, yada, yada, yada. So there you go. There’s no magnificent dress or shirt or pants in my near future, near past. But I’m really proud of these. They’re helping me sort of get over my funk. So maybe listeners when the video comes out, you’ll check it out. But yeah, that’s where I’m at right now. What about you, Ada, what are you working on?
Ada: Well, I did some hand-sewing too, but I did not get that far. I hand-sewed some masks on the plane and it took me one plane ride to New York and one plane ride back from New York, for a wedding, to finish one mask
Nicole: It took a while!
Ada: It took a while and I am never doing that again. Maybe. I mean it’s a portable project. It’s actually quite nice to have. But, before I left for New York, I basically binge-sewed through five projects that I had already cut out but was going to slowly work through, or had been sitting on for months, and months. Maybe even a year. So, I made… Are you ready for this?
Nicole: Yes!
Ada: It’s a lot. It’s a lot.
Nicole: It seems… Yeah. Okay, go ahead.
Ada: In two or three days, I made Arden pants from Helen’s Closet in a Blackbird Fabrics modal jersey knit that I had purchased last year. I made Clyde pants from Elizabeth Suzanne in Blackbird fabrics linen. Those, if listeners have been following along with the Clyde pants saga, I did not cut to front crotches this time. And they fit perfectly, and they’re fantastic. Highly recommend. A Luna tank from Helen’s Closet in hemp cotton knit blend, which we talked about hemp cotton knit on the mindful fabric selection episodes. That was purchased from Matchpoint fabrics, RIP. And then I also, out of scraps, made a little DIY garter-esque holster wallet. Because, at the wedding I was going to, I didn’t want to be carrying my bag around. And all I needed was my phone, and my ID, and, like, a card, and 20 bucks. So I made a little elastic holster purse thing.
Nicole: That’s awesome.
Ada: Highly recommend this option if you’re wearing a long dress to any formal event, and you want to be hands free and you don’t want to have a purse. And finally, I made a Nikko top from true bias in this sleeveless version in, again, the Blackbird fabrics modal jersey knit. So I just pumped all of those out. But everything except for the Clyde pants had already been cut out before I started.
Nicole: I mean, did you say, two to three days?
Ada: Yeah, it was a little ridiculous. I also might have been sewing during a Zoom call.
Nicole: I won’t tell. That’s wild, but good for you. I mean, those all sound like really nice pieces. I love the garter holster wallet idea. I’m going to a wedding tomorrow, but I’m wearing a shorter dress for my wedding. It just reminded me of like, that happened a while ago. I did not have a garter because it just totally escaped me. And I remember the morning of the wedding, everyone was getting ready. And someone’s like, “Where’s your garter, Nikki?” I’m like, “Wha?” Yeah, that’s right. I’m supposed to have one of those. So my brother-in-law, whom I’ve known for forever, he got sent out. There was a Joann Fabric down the street, and he grabbed one off the shelf. And that was what ended up being my garter that ended up with whoever at the end of the day. It was just like, when you said garter, I was like, oh, yeah,
Ada: That’s basically what I thought it looked like. My partner said it looked more like a gun holster.
Nicole: You said holster though. That’s what I thought. I was like, what you put in there?
Ada: Literally two cards and 20 bucks.
Nicole: I guess bras are holsters, right?
Ada: It was a strapless dress though. So like we’re… also for those of us who happen to be on the smaller chested side, it never works out the way you want it to. Something pokey will be poking out of your shirt or poking into you. Trust me.
Nicole: I’ll take your word for it.
Ada: Today, we’re excited to introduce Nics Asawasudsakorn, founder and CEO of Lovanie, a petite, slow-fashion brand. And, to clarify for our listeners, Nics defines petite based on height. So anyone 5’4″ and below. And in this episode, we’re going to be referring to the height of the wearer, not your size or not the size. So for any of our listeners tuning in today, who are new to you, could you tell us a little bit more about yourself? And who are you and how do you identify?
Nics: Yeah, sure. Hi, my name is Nics. And I’m the founder of Lovanie, which is a slow fashion brand for petite woman 5’4″ and under. I identify myself as she/her. And I’m originally from Thailand. But now I’m currently living in Seattle.
Ada: How does sewing intersect with your identity?
Nics: I think, you know, sewing has always been a part of my life, even though I never really thought about it. And so my uncle is a tailor back in Thailand. My family are all still in Thailand right now. And my grandma knows how to sew, my mom knows how to sew – and, so, I think it’s just part of my childhood growing up around like my family members who know how to sew. Interestingly, at that time, or when I was living with them, since now I’m in Seattle. I didn’t really sew using a sewing machine. It was just hand-sewing things, mending things. But then I recently picked up sewing later in my life, I guess.
Nicole: All of the guests we’ve had on the podcast so far, they sew for themselves or sew for themselves to an extent and then utilize their sewing skills for their business. Do you get a chance to sew for yourself? And if so what do you like to make?
Nics: Yeah, so before I launched Lovanie, I did sew for myself more. But now I have less time sewing for myself since a lot of the sewing is to make samples or just sewing pieces for Lovanie. I like to sew things using vintage patterns like McCall’s or Simplicity. I like more summery-type clothes because I think, [being] originally from Thailand, I kind of miss it. Being here in Seattle, where, you know, we’re just all wearing long sleeves and whatnot, I think spring and summer are my favorite seasons to be sewing things. Right now, I’m not sewing anything for myself in particular, but other times, I do so from time to time.
Ada: And since your whole family sews and your uncle was a professional tailor, did you learn how to sew from him or was it from somebody else?
Nics: Yeah, it’s interesting. Like I said, basically at that time when I was living closer to them, I just learned mending, hand-sewing things, but it’s actually only last year in which I picked this up seriously with the pandemic. I think a lot of us have more time on our hands. You know I work from home, a lot of you guys work from home. And so I just started diving myself into this as something I really want to get better at in terms of skills. So I take courses on YouTube and Facebook groups, asking people questions if I get stuck on something. So yeah, I guess it’s more of a self-taught.
Nicole: Okay, since your family in Thailand has this history of sewing, for listeners who may not be familiar, can you share a little bit more about the tailoring and garment industry in Thailand?
Nics: I guess, you know, this is an experience with them, maybe 10 years ago, since I’ve been living here for a while now. But I remember like, in my childhood, more than half of my mom’s closet were tailored or made just for her. Besides going to her brother, my uncle, to get those tailor made, she also worked with some other local tailors as well near to where we live, because we live kind of not that close to him. So I definitely remember experiences where, on the weekend, we would go into a fabric store, she would pick out her own fabric, and talk to the tailor. And then she would bring a magazine or something where she has a certain dress that she saw, you know, a model or something wearing, and say, “Can I have it like this” or “Tuck this in a little bit”. So it was something that I think has always been part of our lives where most of the clothes were actually made to order or made just for her. Whereas now I think, as with any other like countries, things are shifting more towards bigger fashion brands, and buying more off-the-shelf. So what I noticed with smaller stores when I go back to Thailand and shop there, they actually work with local seamstresses to do small batches of clothing. So I think that there’s still that model in Thailand, which is great to see.
Nicole: Yeah, that’s really neat. It’s amazing to think about having just, regularly having clothes made for you, like, as just a part of normal life. I mean, I grew up in America, so it’s always whatever is on the shelf. But this idea that you can go somewhere and this [tailor made clothing] is accessible to most people. I think that’s really cool. So thanks for sharing a little bit about that.
Ada: I think if we had been born maybe a decade or two before, Nicole. And definitely, If you remember episode three, she [Nandita] talked about not wanting her mom’s handmade clothing for her from those like Big Four. She said McCall’s patterns. And she was like, No, I want to be cool and go to the mall. So I can definitely see that evolution. And kind of pivoting, that’s like a great way to pivot to your brand and your work. So Nics, what inspired you to start your brand? And I’m sure listeners are curious. How was sewing your own samples? And what was that process like? Did you work with a pattern maker, other people behind the scenes? Like, take us behind the scenes of starting a brand?
Nics: Yeah, sure. So I think the reason why I wanted to start the brand is the fact that fashion and sewing has always been a part of my life, I’ve always had an interest in it. And I actually enjoy creating the products part of it, rather than running the rest of the business, which is more like marketing, selling and all of that. So I think I… making your own piece of clothes that you envision or have this design in your mind, I think that was a really fun part for me. In terms of how the process is, I do work with a pattern maker because they’re professional in how to make those patterns for production, so they not only fit how I measure and my sizes, but also to a larger audience. And then what I do in terms of samples is that, so there are kind of two models that we do. Either I’ll just get the patterns from them, and then if it’s simpler patterns, then I would do all the samples myself, and then work, you know, with a local seamstress to produce that in the small batch. But if it was more complex, then the pattern maker actually sewed the first sample. And then I use that as a sole buy to make more samples as I need.
Ada: What is the cut off, I guess, between simple and having your pattern maker make the sample?
Nics: Yeah, for sure. So to give you an example of some of the styles, let’s say I had a long sleeve shirt and pants with elastic waist. So that’s more simple. So I would just do the samples myself. There’s one style that I did, which was more complex, which was like a wrap dress and has ruffles with a self tie. So I want to see what the end result should look like first before I start, you know, doing more samples myself.
Ada: Got it.
Nicole: So before we started recording, you’d mentioned that you’re working from home right now. So does that mean that you’re working another job on top of managing Lovanie? And what’s that like balancing the two?
Nics: Yeah, so I do have a full time day job right now. I work from home. And then also, I’m running Lovanie on the side. So I’m doing both right now at the same time. In terms of balancing both, I will say that, for the most part, since I’ve been doing it for a little while now- it’s getting better. But I think it just depends on how you manage your time. So usually what I do is, in the morning before work, sometimes like lunch break, and then obviously after work, carving out time to spend on the business.
Nicole: So really, just whenever you can fit it into your regular day. Yeah, that’s great. So what inspired you to start the Lovanie brand?
Nics: Like I said, part of my identity has always been interested in fashion and sewing as we’ve been talking about. So I know that I always have an interest in doing something in fashion if I were to start my own business. And as I looked into the fashion industry and learned more about the slow fashion of sustainable fashion practice, I knew that I wanted my brand to be a slow fashion brand, a sustainable fashion brand. And in terms of Lovanie, what I wanted to create is something that I feel I haven’t seen a lot yet in the market, especially for a petite woman. I think that there are quite a few sustainable fashion brand options out there, but not a lot that offer petite sizing. And like I’m 5’2″ myself. So I do want to offer these clothing to women who are just like me in the same situation.
Ada: You mentioned, obviously, that Lovanie is a slow fashion sustainable brand. So we should define slow fashion for our listeners. It’s a term that’s meant to evoke the opposite of fast fashion, and its exploitation of overseas workers that are paid low wages if at all, to produce collection after collection with the expectation of multiple consumer wardrobe turnovers every year.
Nicole: And slow fashion emphasizes the sustainability and the ethics and its use of local artisans paid a living wage and the desire to protect the environment by using eco-friendly materials with less waste in order to produce high quality items that can be worn for many years. We talked about how you sell your own samples for Lovanie. Before handing it over to your production team. Can you share with us a little bit about how you found your factory and seamstresses and vetted them? How much more does it cost a small, slow fashion brand to have manufacturing be based in the US versus abroad?
Nics: Mmhmm. Yeah. In terms of how I was able to find the cutter and the seamstresses I’m working with right now… actually, in Seattle, that was quite a difficult thing. I know that I wanted it to be local and close to where I live. But a lot of factories are actually located, especially on the west coast, in LA, right? There are a lot more resources there. So I just searched and posted on different places [online], and then [also] word of mouth referral, in terms of contractors – are there [any] in Seattle? As I’m operating on a small scale right now, I don’t need a full flushed factory. So basically, I work with a cutter and then also seamstresses who sew at home. And in terms of, like, vetting them, I meet them personally, they’re actually 30 minutes drive away from where I live. And so that just makes it very easy to visit them, and see how the process is, what are they doing? The seamstress sews at home and [I] meet her on a regular basis. And so I know the condition in which all this is being produced is fair, and everything. And so I feel pretty good about that. And actually, that’s the part of it I like the most–meaning, I’m able to actually, like, see who’s making all these products and what goes into it. The second part of your question in terms of manufacturing here versus abroad, I didn’t actually look into a lot of options abroad at all. And part of the reason why was because I’m just starting, I wanted to know exactly what is being done. Because I feel like sending your fabric or doing everything abroad, you don’t actually know what’s going on and you just get shipped your pieces. And so just being more hands on, especially in this early stage is very important to me. So I think that was just one thing that even if I can’t find in Seattle, then it will probably be locally somewhere on the West Coast just so that I can visit more often or something like that. I think that was already something I decided on in the beginning.
Nicole: Another feature of Lovanie is that you operate on a preorder model which we know many slow fashion brands do for various reasons. So why and how does this align with your mission of sustainability?
Nics: Yeah, I’ve heard this somewhere… And I don’t know whether this is true or not. But basically, it says that 30% of clothes that a lot of larger brands produce actually go unsold. It’s very hard to actually predict what style [and] what size would do really well. And even in my own experience of, you know, creating this brand. Before launching my first collection, I sent out a survey to people putting different photos and sketches, or illustrations of what styles you would like, and then people would vote on them and then see which one they would like. And then I went back and looked at those results. And what actually sold in my first collection, and the result, they’re not the same.
Nicole: Okay, yeah, sometimes that happens.
Nics: Yeah, yeah. I think that when you see something, you just like, Okay, well, this is what I’m going to answer. But survey don’t always predict purchase behavior. And so it’s always hard to predict exactly. And with that, I think that a preorder model just makes more sense in terms of reducing waste. That’s part of it being sustainable to minimize the materials that you don’t actually use, and also clothes that no one wants to wear. The second part of it is as a small business, it just makes more financial sense, in the sense that you don’t have to hold more inventory.
Ada: Definitely feel you on that one. So I understand that you also eliminated deadstock fabrics during your fabric selection process for your brand too. So in Episode 14, which was a few weeks ago, we talked about deadstock fabric. And for listeners, Here is a recap of what that is. A deadstock is pretty much old fabric that hasn’t been able to sell. And it could either be fabric with minor damages that was rejected by the company that ordered it. Surplus fabric because the company that purchased the fabric ordered too much, whether that was intentional or not, or scraps from a factory’s cutting room floor. And it’s important to note that deadstock is not the same as what’s called available stock fabric. Available stock fabric is fabric that a factory over produces, because they know it will eventually sell, like a plain knit jersey that would be commonly used in a T-shirt. Like, a factory could produce tens and hundreds of, thousands of, yards of that (or meters of that) and know that they will eventually be able to produce sales from that fabric. And deadstock is produced for a few different reasons, right? Fabric production involves a huge complex machine or set of machines, and it’s a lot easier for mills to produce extra fabric to sell at a discount, rather than shut the machines off as soon as the order is fulfilled. And this extra fabric is never intended for the landfill. Oftentimes, the mills just plan on selling it to others like fabric jobbers who are middlemen or leaving it in storage for a while before figuring out how to liquidate it. So deadstock fabric, as we established in Episode 14 isn’t really as green as we are led to believe as consumers. So Nics, I guess my question for you is: Do you agree with this? And what are your thoughts on greenwashing? In particular, like the example of deadstock fabrics?
Nics: I think this is an interesting question. And I think there are multiple ways to look at deadstock fabric. On one hand, I still think that is generally better than ordering completely new fabric from the mills that we already know that are overproducing fabrics. And then I think we need to think about what exactly in terms of fabric type and fiber you’re actually buying from deadstock. So even if it’s deadstock, I would still gravitate towards natural fibers or less synthetic. So focus on cotton or rayon, and avoid things like polyester that are deadstock. So I guess there are multiple layers of it in terms of saying whether something is greenwashing or not because, personally, I don’t think that there’s something as 100% sustainable because we’re kind of on this spectrum. We’re just trying to do better and better each time. And I think that like deadstock, there’s also a spectrum on its own too. You just have to weigh those options when you decide either to sew your own clothes or when selecting fabric for doing a brand. [In] my first collection, what I did was use linen as the main fabric for my first collection. It was like OEKO-TEX certified, so I was happy about that decision. And then now, the second collection, I am actually looking into using more deadstock options like rayon and cotton. The reason why is because I find it also more difficult to source. Really, when you pick up fabric, there’s different drape, you can make different types of style, depending on what fabric, right? Even when you make a certain type of dress from linen or cotton, it will give you a certain type of dress. But if you want more flowy, then you would have to look for different types of fiber, let’s say. And so that goes to, you know, what I mentioned earlier about the spectrum on which you should decide, okay, if I want this [type of garment] and what is the more sustainable [fiber] option for that type for me.
Nicole: We spent a lot of time talking about sustainability. And there’s no way to be perfect at it. And we spent so much time on it that we had to split it into two episodes, because there’s so much to say about it. So, consuming slow fashion is indeed a very thoughtful and intentional way to dress ourselves. And another option is to buy secondhand. And Nics we know that you used to sell secondhand items. How did you get into doing that? And then why did you get out of it?
Nics: Yeah, to rewind back to the earlier question about why did I started this. Like I said, I’ve always been interested in fashion. And then looking into sustainable fashion. There are multiple ways of doing kind of different facets of sustainable fashion, right? One of which is secondhand. So I started off with doing that first even selling stuff also on Poshmark and Depop. And, you know, all those marketplaces too. I did that for, you know, a while and then… there’s a whole kind of market in and of itself of people selling this secondhand and vintage clothes. But what I discovered as I got into sewing and all those during the pandemic is that I like creating, basically clothes instead of just the taking photos and the selling part of it if I were to be transparent, right? Because if you think of the activities of the thing — if you have a second hand/vintage store, your main activity is sourcing and taking photos and then selling the products. Whereas if you’re a fashion brand, your main activity is coming up with the designs, creating the products, sewing the things. So I guess the focus is different. And then what I discovered was I was more interested in the latter.
Nicole: On a personal like scale, in terms of talking about selling secondhand things. I know that back in the day, I used to sell, like, my own clothes, like on Ebay. So this was like before, like Poshmark. And I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity to do that now, but I’m with you. I just don’t want to do the work of having to describe it adequately enough. And so I totally get why that, even if it’s potentially lucrative, like why as a practice, it’s not as fulfilling as creating, you know, so I can totally relate. I mean, I don’t have a brand, but like, that’s what I used to do. And it’s what’s keeping me now from selling things online as opposed to selling secondhand stuff online as opposed to like mindfully donating or using until it’s unusable. I feel you.
Ada: Since this is a podcast, and I’m not sure if anyone has started stalking Lovanie on Instagram yet, but for those who haven’t started following you on Instagram or taking a look at the brand, can you describe the Lovanie style or aesthetic?
Nics: Yeah, sure. So I would describe it as romantic feminine and more like travel-inspired, destination-inspired aesthetics. So with our first collection, It’s kind of soft, pastel color, I guess palette with cream, blue, and then rosewood tone. And then even in this collection I’m working on right now for the fall, it’s still in that same aesthetics.
Ada: And you keep mentioning this next collection. So what does the future of Lovanie look like? And currently, your sizing is extra small to extra large. Is there a plan to expand the size range any further for more inclusive sizing?
Nics: Yeah, it’s a great question. So I’m in, like, the process right now of how to think about how do I want to, I guess, modify my production model. So currently, what I do is, you know, do the preorder model as we discussed earlier and then work with the contractor and seamstresses, as I mentioned, to do a small batch. And then I produce a little bit extra to then sell afterwards, extra on top of the preorders. But I really am interested in exploring the made-to-order model so that we can offer even more sizes and also custom lengths so that we can expand to, I guess, be more inclusive, as you say, in the future. The difficulty that comes with that is that [for] a lot of, I guess, factories or contractors, I think this is not a really, I guess, financially lucrative model for them, right? Because the main part of it is not the sewing part. But it’s the cutting part. Because if you think about it, basically in production setting cutting is, you print out a marker, you put it on top of a stack of fabric, and you cut it at the same time. But if you were to do a made-to-order model with custom sizing, custom lengths, then you have to almost do the cutting like each piece at a time. And then that increases the cost, [and] increases the time. And as we know, sustainable fashion brands tend to be a bit more expensive than normal already. And I want to be mindful of that and not having to raise the price too much. So that is still kind of in progress for sure. I’m definitely still looking for ways I could make that work. We’ll keep you updated, I guess, on where that goes.
Nicole: Well, thank you so much for joining us today for this valuable discussion on slow fashion and some behind the scenes look on what it’s like to run a slow fashion brand. But before we sign off, can you tell our listeners where they can find you and keep up with Lovanie?
Nics: Yeah, sure. So you can check out Lovanie at our website. So www.lovanie.com or on Instagram @shoplovanie. And we are launching our fall collection in a few weeks on October 25. So we’d love for you to check that out too.
Nicole: Thank you so much for joining us on this week’s episode of the Asian Sewist Collective podcast. Next week we’ll be wrapping up this season with a conversation about special occasion wear sewing with Macy Camille. If you like our show, please consider supporting us on Ko-fi. Your financial support helps us with overhead expenses and will allow us to give back to our all volunteer team who works so hard to provide you with new content each week. The link to our Ko-fi page is Ko-fi.com/asiansewistcollective. That’s K-O, dash, F-I, dot, com, slash, asiansewistcollective. And you can find the link in our shownotes on our website and on our instagram account. Check us out on Instagram @AsianSewistCollective. That’s one word Asian. Sewist. Collective. You can also help us by spreading the word and telling your friends. We would appreciate it if you could rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple podcast, podcast Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ada: All of the links and resources mentioned in today’s episode will be in the show notes on our website at AsianSewistCollective.com. And we’d love to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments or even voice messages if you want to be featured on a future episode at AsianSewistCollective@gmail.com. This episode was brought to you by your co-hosts Ada Chen and Nicole Angeline. This episode was researched by Cindy Chan, produced by Esther Lee and edited by Mariko Abe and Shilyn Joy. Thank you so much to the other members of our collective who made this week’s episode a reality. This is the Asian Sewist Collective podcast and we’ll see you next week.