What is slow fashion?
Slow fashion is ethically and sustainably produced items that are created thoughtfully in small batches to reduce waste. In a simple sense, it’s the opposite to fast fashion: often mass produced low price and low quality items with high turnover rate, encouraging over consumption and waste.
Her Pony (HP) designs and creates slow fashion clothing that’s made with love and made to last. Items that will be staples of your closet for years to come, with consciously chosen fabrics that have a minimal negative impact to Mother Earth.
Part of our sustainable journey is asking our honeys to question the “true cost” of something cheap they buy online. Although the impact on your bank account may be small - at what cost? How much was the person who made it paid? What kind of conditions are they working in? Where does the fabric come from, what is the quality, and what impact does it have on the environment? Was it produced in mass and this is the last of it before it gets thrown to landfill?
This is exactly why we believe in being transparent about the process of how our clothes come to land in that cute little plastic free package that lands on your doorstep. We believe it’s important to know where your clothes come from, how they are made, and who makes them.
We have a team of 20 in Bali who are paid fairly on a skilled basis, with extra money for daily meals and special ceremonies. Some of the members of this team have been with HP for over 6 years because of how happy they are working there.
Prior to COVID-19 directors Lauren and Steph would regularly visit the HP warehouse in Bali to ensure the team were happy and well looked after – something they’re looking forward to doing again soon.
Our dedication to slow fashion is shown through our design process. It takes approximately 5-9 months from designing a new pattern to the release of a new line. This allows plenty of time for conscious decisions to be made to ensure the final product is the best we can possibly provide.
In a very condensed form, it looks a little like this:
Our owner and designer Lauren, finds vintage inspiration and creates a new print in collaboration with a graphic artist. This process takes quite a few weeks as there is a lot of back and forward and revisions before getting the design just perfect.
The type of fabrics are chosen based on the proposed designs for the range. Choices are made largely on the stretch of the fabric for the clothing chosen (i.e. stretchy for flares, structure for tailored, etc.). The print is then sent to the digital printer along with chosen fabrics for samples to be made. The fabric printer we use works solely with natural & organic fabrics using eco ink.
Once the fabric has been approved & bulk ordered, the designs for the collection are finalised & sent to Rindy of our Bali team to create the patterns. One sample of each design is hand made by our sewing team in Bali and sent to Lauren for approval / adjustments. Lauren carefully analyses the style, fit, fall and cut of the new styles before sending any alteration requests to Bali for the final styles to be created.
A small batch of 20-70 items of the new styles are hand sewn and created by our incredible team in Bali before the new style is released to our honeys for purchase.
Our best selling ranges are restocked in batches, and we keep our releases small to ensure we are keeping with the demand but not overproducing. All items at Her Pony are sold and none end up in landfill from our factory.
We hope our pieces stay with you forever but we know that doesn’t always happen, we just ask if you do pass it on, give it to a friend or to charity so nothing ends up in landfill and our clothing continues to be kind to the environment.
Our journey to a minimal waste brand has been a long one, and one we have by no means accomplished fully. We are constantly learning about new ways we can grow and improve, and as it stands not all of our fabrics are eco/sustainable. Sometimes it is simply not possible to get the eco fabric we need for particular designs, or if we can they are expensive (which often doesn’t sell) so we need to keep that in mind too. However it is a vision we work towards, and when eco isn’t an option, we ensure our fabrics are the highest quality so they last.
We are proudly transparent about how our clothes are made, so if you have any questions please let us know. We believe an important part of reducing waste in the fashion industry is educating people on their role as a consumer – finding out exactly where and how their clothes are made.
Thanks for being fashion conscious honeys, and for supporting us as we continue to better ourselves and find ways to grow as an ethical and sustainable company.
xx