In the realm of sustainable fashion, where creativity meets conscience, there exists a brand that not only crafts exquisite garments but also weaves tales of empowerment, resilience, and community. Bastet Noir, a sustainable, socially responsible, and zero waste label hailing from North Macedonia, has caught the fashion world’s attention with its unique journey and commitment to sustainable practices.
Can you tell me a bit about the inspiration behind starting Bastet Noir? How did the idea come about?
Bastet Noir is a sustainable, socially responsible and zero waste label based in North Macedonia. It all started back in 2018, when Dani met this incredible seamstress who became a single parent that same year. At that time, Dani was working on running a marketplace model for her company, but seeing this woman make ends meet gave her another idea. In an attempt to help her grow her business, Dani decided to launch a standalone clothing label, Bastet Noir, which later became a safe haven for women seamstresses who are single parents and domestic abuse victims. The idea was to empower and lift out of poverty an entire community of women, but finding funds to do that was extremely hard, so to test out the waters, she started working with deadstock fabrics and developed the “made-to-order” model which led to her discovering the need for more inclusiveness in the industry which led to pioneering the made-to-measure production model, as Bastet Noir was one of the first companies to take this model to market.
The idea took off as the industry seemed to love our unique approach to sustainability and production, and we somehow caught the attention of fashion publication giants such as Vogue, Elle NL, Brides Magazine, TheKnot and Marie Claire! A true ‘pinch us’ moment, and just the right amount of drive, we needed to keep the wheels turning.
Along this incredible journey, were there any particular projects, collaborations, or collections that you are especially proud of?
We definitely can’t choose a favorite collection, that would be like asking to choose your favorite child. However, we do agree with our customers when it comes to specific pieces being bestsellers of Bastet Noir. For example, The Mary Trench Coat has proven to be a real winner for autumn and winter, and we are beyond thrilled everytime we see a photo of someone rocking it in their day to day life! All our customers come with their own set of memorable moments, but nothing beats the feeling of receiving a heartwarming email from a happy client. It makes all the hard work pay off in an instant!
Zero waste fashion is a significant part of Bastet Noir’s identity. Can you explain your approach to zero waste design and production for those who might not be familiar?
The way we connect zero waste and sustainability to Bastet Noir is through our production and sourcing. We work only with deadstock fabrics i.e. leftover fabrics from other brands. We source them locally, from family-owned warehouses in North Macedonia, and work with a very limited quantity. Sometimes, we have barely enough fabric for 5 pieces. This makes us work smarter with the materials we do have, and only produce when an order is placed. We prioritize utilizing our materials to the last scrap so we can make the most of what we have, and give our customers a chance to invest in a piece from Bastet Noir. Sadly, working with deadstock fabrics means that the chances of finding the same fabric are very slim, so once a style is out of stock – that’s all folks! Sometimes though, through a stroke of luck, we manage to find more. How? Beats us haha!
Sustainability often involves innovation. Have you encountered any unique challenges or successes in developing eco-friendly materials or processes?
We prefer using natural fabrics, such as cotton based satin silks, cashmere, wool and cotton, because they’re more breathable and with a higher quality. However, since we’re limited by the choice of fabrics, sadly this is not always the case, but we like to think that even when we work with polyester based fabrics, we are operating even more sustainably because we get to save them from ending up in landfills, which is always a better option.
Every journey has its ups and downs. Can you tell me about some challenges or setbacks you faced while building your brand and how you overcame them?
As with any small label that’s just starting out and venturing into the worldwide market, our biggest challenge is finding the right funding. Our main priority is to re-invest into building and growing the small businesses of the seamstresses we work with, so that they can push through their own sets of challenges being single mothers or micro entrepreneurs. This sadly leaves us with little wiggle room when it comes to scaling Bastet Noir via marketing. But we are eternally grateful to the wonderful women who have chosen to support us regardless, and have seen the real impact of what we do and why we do it.
What are your long-term goals for your brand in terms of sustainability, growth, and impact? Are there any exciting upcoming projects, collections, or initiatives you’d like to share with your audience?
As we grow, we would love to be able to preserve and potentially scale our made-to-order and made-to-measure production process while working on optimizing the production to support small communities of women single parents globally and not just locally. This is what we’re currently working on.
Our plans for the future also involve introducing farm to closet principle. As Bastet Noir grow, it would become impossible for us to keep on using deadstock fabrics, so we’d love to replace this by growing and farming our own, enabling farmers to gain financial independence, while at the same time being able to trace the origin of the fabrics we’re using.
Transparency is also a very important thing for us, so this is one of the things we work on continuously. We trace everything we possibly can and make sure to convey this in the most transparent way possible, from displaying the cost breakdown to showcasing our behind the scenes production process from a simple idea to creating the finished product all the way down to sharing the stories of the women we work with.
And last, but not least, we’re launching our newest AW23/24 collection at the end of September. So we’re extremely excited for that. Keep your eyes peeled, because it’s the best one yet.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add or share with our readers about your brand or your journey towards sustainability? If you had one piece of advice for someone aspiring to start their own sustainable fashion brand, what would it be?
We hope this has inspired you to be mindful when it comes to fashion, and being very particular about the brands you’re choosing to support! For some, it means supporting whole communities, and there’s nothing better than feeling the love and support simply through a piece of garment, knowing that your purchase has helped improve the quality of life of another human being. As for any aspiring entrepreneurs out there, don’t be afraid to play the long game – if you are passionate about what you do, even the smallest of rewards make all the hard work worthwhile.
