From Hippie to Hip

There's an interesting article in today's Age on the Australian organic industry in the grocery sector. Not sure if you've seen the latest Woolworths' TV ads but they last year bought the Macro Wholefoods Market chain and have now adopted it as their own in-store organic brand.

Apparently Australia is already home to the most certified organic farming lands in the world and organic farming is tipped by analysts to be one of the fastest growing industries this year. For more info - check it out for yourself at http://www.theage.com.au/national/sector-is-ripe-for-the-picking-20101031-178w9.html

Hot to trot

Things are slowly happening. Matt Paroz from How Big is your Eco is going to feature us at some stage soon! That's really exciting. Heide Museum of Modern Art has also got back to us - the organisers have decided to postpone the Design Square due to technical problems but I'm going to follow them up anyway next week just to have a chat with the Heide Store manager.

Been reading all the Spring Racing Carnival publicity leading up the Melbourne Cup. I have to say I'm not really into the races (maybe because I don't drink or gamble) but I do love looking at the fashion.

I love the fact that Jaydee Paino who won Fashions on the Field in Cairns last weekend wore an $18 vintage dress bought online from Nashville. Have also been looking at some of the luxury brands' latest print advertising. Interestingly Edun - the eco fashion brand created by U2 singer Bono and his partner Ali Hewson - has actually teamed up with Louis Vuitton in its newest campaign supporting the Cotton Conservation Initiative in Uganda.

From little things, big things grow

I ended up emailing my responses to Maggie and Betsy in the US for their book 'Defying Gravity'. I'm not sure where it will lead but I've been happy to share the story about Anne and me and our partnership.

I've also been reading about other female entrepreneurs. Marie Hatzis from Hussy and Yeojin Bae are both in partnerships with their sisters who look after the financial/operations side of the business. Anne and I also subscribe to Clare Lancaster's Women in Business newsletter and one of her articles today is on women who've been so successful with their blogs that their partners have been able to give up their day jobs http://www.womeninbusiness.com.au/_blog/Style_and_Substance/post/Full_Time_Female_Bloggers/

It is inspiring. When I first met Anne I gave her a number of articles to look at, one was on our design hero Lisa Gorman. We both love her stuff even though not all of it is organic. She has also had to go off shore to stay in business. Doing sustainable fashion isn't easy. Anne and I would like to keep GEM organic and continue to make it here but time will tell.

Living an eco-fashionable life

It's one thing to work in sustainable fashion, it's another thing to actually live it. I've long had a green sensibility and that's a values thing. Living it can actually be more tricky and I'm aware of the contradiction of working in an industry that can be seen as more about consumerism than anything else.

I don't buy a lot of clothes. Aside from Green Eyed Monster, I don't have the time, budget or desire to buy lots of new clothes. I have a wish list of things I'd like and wherever possible I stick to it. This tends to be high quality, classic, timeless pieces if I buy new but I also love buying pre-loved clothes at op shops, markets and on ebay. I also try to buy eco household and organic products wherever possible and when my budget (we are on a single income) permits.

Similarly, I've furnished my home with Art Deco items I've found at antiques centres and vintage shops. Perhaps I'm just lucky that my taste happens to be about 'sustainable' items but I also think it's a better way to live. I also think things were often better made in previous times and I love the idea of handing items down from one generation to the next. If you're wanting to live a greener life, there are lots of good books around. One is 'Greeniology' by Australian author Tanya Ha which is more about green households, and the other is 'The eco chick guide to life' by American author Starre Vartan which is more about eco fashion, beauty and style. See if you can get a copy from your local library or bookstore.

Money, money, money...

Anne is taking a day job for a little while. I don't blame her. It's hard working on something for so long that isn't providing an immediate financial return for our efforts. Green Eyed Monster really has been a labour of love for both of us. It's something we both believe in and believe has a future in this country. Earlier this year the Mobium Group estimated the sustainability market here being worth $19m with textiles being one component of that.

While GEM is making money, everything we've earned thus far has been channelled back into the business. One day we hope it will be profitable enough to support a regular wage for both of us but for now, it's just a matter of staying the course, trying to raise awareness of who we are and getting more people (potential retailers and customers) to buy our product.

We've had to postpone our phone interview with Maggie and Betsy in the US today as my nanny's daughter is sick. They've sent us some interesting questions on being in a partnership and I'll be interested in reading the book ('Defying Gravity') when it comes out.

Who loves ya baby?

There is some love coming back to us at the moment. Not from the media but some of our friends in the organic, eco fashion and beauty world. Grace from Pure and Green Organics got in touch with me yesterday. They are launching their first retail store this weekend so we'll do a Green Eyed Monster cross promotion with them.

And Anne and I went to Alex Hume's Ecofashionista Preview Night last night. Alex is a former lawyer, started her online store Ecofashionista after having her son Max and is now getting married! Her Spring range is suitably gorgeous - I bought some Good Society jeans from her a little while ago which go wonderfully with Green Eyed Monster T-shirts.

We also got to meet Joyce from Cycle Style who is pregnant but still riding her bike everywhere with all her cute cycling accessories. I've mentioned it before - it's nice to feel part of a little community in the world of online retailing and eco fashion. We are feeling the love!

It's nice to be wanted

I mentioned the other day that I wasn't expecting a lot of love back from our traditional Spring Summer PR effort. Sometimes I do feel like I'm pushing water uphill so it's been nice to have some interest from other people!

Firstly, there are a couple of women Betsy and Maggie from Mulberry Tree Consulting in the US who are writing a book called 'Defying Gravity' on female partnerships. They were interested in our story - the fact that we are from Australia and that we work with organic fabrics. They'd contacted us a little while ago wanting to interview us but we'd knocked them back as we felt it was early days in our partnership and because our partnership arrangement is an informal one at the moment.

Secondly, we'd also been approached by Jacinta Burchall, who runs the Black Cat boutique in Healesville, regarding her sustainable fashion competition - the 9lives project. Again, we had pulled out of the race but she's also been in touch again encouraging us to participate.

So we've said (or I've said) yes to both requests. I'm more than happy to share our journey with people who are interested in our story and the best thing about the 9lives project for us is the opportunity to be mentored by someone like Tiffany Treloar - a leading Australian sustainable fashion designer - should we be successful.

Tip of the Day: Balance a critical eye with an open mind when it comes to requests - a little kindness can sometimes go a long way and many opportunities can come from unexpected places.

Blogs away!

There are a number of newsletters, blogs and websites I subscribe to - mainly sustainable fashion, art & design related. Overseas newsletters include Ecouterre in New York and the Ethical Fashion Forum in the UK. Here, I love Michi Girl (check out Kat Mcleod's beautiful illustrations), How Big is Your Eco, Give Now, The Design Files, Lady Melbourne and our friend Natasha Kershaw's Fashion Rebel. There's also a lovely blog called The Balm (more beauty related) who have been kind enough to feature us in the past.

Alex Hume from online store Ecofashionista has invited Anne and I to attend her Spring Preview Night tomorrow night to view her gorgeous new range. Her friend Joyce should also be there. Joyce is a lawyer, produces Mel:Hot or Not (a daily review of all things Melbourne) as well as has her own bicycle accessories range called Cycle Style. There are a lot of clever men and women out there blogging away and I do wonder what this means for traditional print media like newspapers and magazines.

Tip of the Day: There's a great free online PR service called Source Bottle. If you're wanting to promote yourself, your product or service - check it out.

PR Darling

OK, I've mentioned before I didn't get into fashion PR for the so-called glamour and I don't think I fit the usual Ab Fab stereotype. Nevertheless, getting our name out there is something we must do.

I've just finished emailing newspapers and some magazines about our range. I'm not 100% hopeful that anything will actually come of it. It can be pretty soul destroying working in PR, journalists and fashion editors are busy people who get inundated with media releases every day so it's difficult to have any cut-through unless you have a unique angle or hook.

Which brings me to the topic of social media. Again, it's not something you can control but I've actually come around to the idea of using Twitter, Facebook and blogging. I used to think it was a bit narcissistic but I can now see the benefits of being able to interact with people, often in real time. It's much more focused on people as individuals which I also really like.

Tip of the Day: Even if you don't think you'll use it, register your brand name on Twitter and Facebook.

What's in a name?

A lot actually. Anne has never trademarked the name 'Green Eyed Monster'. There is actually a company with the same name in the UK (but with dashes between the words) who do organic kids clothes.

We'd discussed trademarking when I came on board. I think it's something you should get onto early if you can afford it. We've now spent the past two years being known in Australia as Green Eyed Monster with me doing a concerted PR effort these last 6 months...there's also the cost of having to change artwork, labels and tags to take into account if we change names.

I've just spent the past few days getting media releases out on our Spring Summer range and Anne's also sent our e-newsletter out to all our customers. I'll talk about traditional PR vs social media in my next instalment.

Tip of the Day: Protect your property! Trademark as soon as you can and make sure you can also get the website address (domain name) of your choice.

Keepin' it local

Yesterday I submitted our application to the Heide Design Square being held at Heide Museum of Modern Art next month in Bulleen where I grew up (which is around the corner from where Anne and I live now). We would so love to be considered for it or the Heide store. Heide is one of the best things about living around here.

One of the things I've discovered with running a business from home is that it's best to start off with those people closest to you. For me, it means telling my friends and family what I'm doing. Anne feels it's a bit Amway and isn't comfortable with the idea of 'selling' to her friends and family but for me, a lot of my nearest and dearest are into fashion and independent design and want to support what we do (you know who you are). I don't believe in shoving things down people's throats either - people will either like our stuff or not but with my PR hat on - at least give people the information so they're aware of what we do and can make their own decision.

The other thing we've recently realised is that it's simply too hard for us to get out and about and as working mothers, it's easier to concentrate on our online business and stay in the local area which is the City of Banyule. One of the things we've done more recently is join our local business association and this has given us access to a free business advisory service.

Tip of the Day: Check out your local city council website and find out what services are available to you

Let's start at the very beginning...

Green Eyed Monster's vision is to be a leading socially and environmentally responsible fashion label designed and manufactured in Australia.

This blog is all about the journey behind the scenes of our start up label and while we're not claiming to be the experts on sustainable fashion, we are one of the few brands giving it a go. From here on in, I am going to share our tips with you as a fledgling label and let you know from our experience what works and what doesn't.

I also want to share with you some of my past career experience. I have a B.A. in Public Relations from RMIT and have spent over 15 years working in marketing communications both as a consultant and in-house in industries including fashion, beauty, retail, food & wine, utilities and media communications. My desire to work for a values-based company also began a long time ago in my second job as PR for global environmental beauty company Aveda.

My first tip of the day: A good media release will include the 5 W's and one H - who, what, where, when, how & why. Start with answering these questions when writing your release.

C'mon!

It's been a while since I last wrote. I got really sick over the school holidays and Anne now has a sore knee that requires surgery. If it's not one thing, it's another. We ended up postponing our meeting with Bhakti from So Ethic and our business mentor.

We have made some decisions regarding our ongoing partnership and business direction. Thinking of concentrating more on the online business until our kids are a bit older. This means overhauling the website and spending more time on the social media side of things - Twitter anyone? Stuff we can do in our own time from home rather than trying hitting the streets of Melbourne...

We've had some good stuff happen too - Julia Zemiro's got back in touch with us so we've supplied some T-shirts for a doco she's filming and we're applying to exhibit at the Heide Design Square at Heide Museum of Modern Art in Bulleen where I grew up. Just got to keep trying to move forward.