CLIENT FEATURE: STONE FOX SWIM'S CHELSEA ON SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
Can you tell us about Stone Fox Swim’s beginnings?
I started stone fox in late 2011 in Santa Cruz, California. It was just me, a small bedroom turned office in my house and endless hours on google! Stone Fox was born out of a pure addiction to Brazilian swimwear at the time. I basically just wanted all the bathing suits at my disposal all the time, lol. I traveled back and forth from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles every month for 2 years while building my business before finally making the move to LA. the rest is history!
What are you inspired by?
I'm inspired by nature - the forest, the ocean, the desert. we are so lucky here in California to have all these magical places in such close proximity to one another! I turn to nature when i need to re-charge and get in touch with my creative flow.
What does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability means caring for and protecting mother earth. Making decisions for my business, and my life, with the planet and humankind in mind.
Why is sustainability important to you?
It's important to me because our planet and our future is important to me. I also feel it is so important for me as a business woman and young entrepreneur to set an example for those that will follow in my footsteps. If one woman, one brand, one company can do it, why can't we all? It just takes a conscious effort and some compassion.
How do you embed sustainability into your production practices?
Over the past year and a half we have completely transitioned our production and business practices to be fully sustainable. We work with a family owned and run LEED certified factory in Indonesia, all of our fabrics are milled from recycled yarn and we do not use any plastic in our process. Our packing pouches are made from corn starch and are fully biodegradable and compostable and all of our shipping material are made from recycled paper and are also biodegradable and compostable. we also work with native energy to offset our carbon emissions! It has been a tedious process tackling each item we use in our process and switching it to be sustainably made/sourced, it has also added to our costs, but our bottom line is not the long term priority, our plant is.
Can you tell us about your recent project in up-cycling left over fabric for COVID-19 Masks?
This has been such an exciting and heart filling project for us!! we have gone back to the shelves of left over fabric from productions past and pulled all the material we had in stock. We have now redirected our production resources to make much needed non-medical grade masks for our community, and, for every 5 Pack of Non-medical Grade Masks purchased, we donate the same to individuals and organizations in need! it feels so good to be able to help our friends, family, community and those most in need during this crisis.
Do you think your sustainability practices has impacted sales in any way?
I do! We have received such an amazing response from our customers showing so much gratitude for the effort and awareness. I think it has been such and inspiring transition for us and our communities.
What does the future hold for Stone Fox Swim?
So much!! its craaazy that it has been almost 10 years in business already and I feel like we are only just getting started! i am so excited to continue down the path of making the most amazing bathings suits while promoting a message of sustainability. We are also launching our activewear line AND ready to wear (all made from deadstock linen fabrics.. swoon) line this summer. there is so much fun and creative stuff on the horizon!
You can check out the amazing collections from Stone Fox Swim here.
