The women behind local label Hanya, Veen Dee Tan and Jaja Anuar talk about their vision for the label and why an Upcycle category, that the brand recently launched, is the way to go to minimise fabric waste.
HOW DID THE UPCYCLE COLLECTION COME ABOUT?
It was something we thought about when we had leftover stocks at the warehouse that weren't moving because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the all the conditions that came with it. Our distribution partners couldn't take on our orders and people were not celebrating.
It was truly a scary sight. We took a few weeks to settle down, and really looked into our production chain. We asked ourselves, "what can we do with this waste"?
Discounts won't solve this in the long run. We still have our leftover inventories. What can we do to be responsible for them?
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
For years, many believe that recycling is the only way to save the planet and the only way to reduce waste. Recycling waste takes carbon, water, and even pollution to process. For us, sustainable living starts from reducing, before recycling.
But upcycling-- turning things into other things creatively-- will produce almost no waste. For us, for items that have sold less than 70 per cent, we will upcycle them within six months of their lifetime by redesigning to give them a new life. Everybody deserves a second chance, so does our collections.
IS THIS PROGRAMME SUSTAINABLE?
We have always been a brand that is conscious and aware of social issues. For us, it's about being able to use our platform to educate our followers on the values that we believe are right.
Discount is a strategy that's not sustainable. When brands lower their cost, the most affected level is always the bottom. Low cost means lower labour cost and that's not how we want to run.
WOULD CUSTOMERS BE MORE INCLINED TO BUY AN UPCYCLED LINE?
We see this differently. It is an effort made by us to take charge of the waste we produce. Landfill and discounts cannot be the only ways out, so upcycling is perfect. We manage to reduce waste, and protect our labour cost in the production chain rather than make a profit out of it.
We are very lucky to have a group of followers that really support this effort. One of our upcycled tops was sold out within 48 hours.
HOW DO YOU EXTEND THIS CONCEPT BEYOND JUST A BUZZWORD?
Action speaks louder than words. Hanya has always been green and conscious about its actions. There is a reason why we don't use paper boxes, thank you cards, clothing tags, and other single use items for the sake of "better shopping experience".
We would choose Mother Nature over "better shopping experience" any day. We are happy to practise this and we hope more brands will join in.
Our Upcycle category will be updated with leftover fabrics, overproduced inventories, thrifted outfits - there are so much possibilities that we can't wait to explore creatively. It's just the tip of the iceberg but I think collectively, we all can make a difference.