Article Written: Emily Turner
Brighton Lace is a local, sustainable and female powered lingerie company which focus on saving the planet and celebrating women. I had the pleasure of talking to their founder, Lou, in a quaint café in the Laines, just moments away from Flock, the vintage and handmade boutique where Brighton Lace’s stunning lingerie is available for sale.
So, my first question is why did you found Brighton Lace and can you tell me about your role within the company?
Sure! So, I’m the founder, and Brighton Lace kind of started by accident, I don’t have any official training in textiles, but I’ve always had a passion for clothes, particularly vintage, and I tried buying and selling and I started to develop my eye there. And one of the things I realised, is I have a passion for colour, and you can see that when you look at the collection. We always carry up to 20-30 different colourways. And I think that’s what makes us a little bit unique and what initially attracted customers. They are quite loyal, because when a new colour comes out, its lovely.
I’ve seen on Instagram the buzz comes out, people get very excited! So, speaking of that, can you tell me more about the lace? And where its sourced and what makes it ethical?
So initially we were buying remnant laces. What I was trying to do was buy purely in the UK. But that is actually quite difficult, because the lace industry in Nottingham, where there were many wonderful lace factories, all died a death sadly. And the machines, they all got bought and sold to Chinese companies. So I was buying remnant deadstock laces that had been manufactured in the 70s and 80s, and in fact some of our bestselling laces right at the start of the company were old M&S laces from the 80s. And what I was doing was buying them in what they call greige, or blank or white or very pale, and I started to learn to dye, so I dyed them different colourways. So that was how we started, using remnants. And now, I’m very happy to say, we are working with a wonderful, ethical lace manufacturer in Germany. And they are oeko-tex certified. That guarantees that the fabric is not only produced ethically, but the dying process is ethical and also that the people within the factory all have really excellent rights. Everything down to how the lighting is, to how long they have for lunch break, everything is taken care of. It’s a massive passion of mine like how everyone in the process of creating our garments is taken care of and paid well and the environment isn’t harmed in the process.
Something that really drew me to the company was your female team, and the fact that you are all women making products for other women. So how do you think this affects the work environment and the eventual product that’s made?
I think that we come from a place of considering what kind of shapes celebrate a woman’s body. And we talk amongst ourselves about the types of styles and colours which we love. The things which we find comfortable. And if you look at our aesthetic, I like to think that it’s clear that all the photographs are shot by women which means that there is less of a sexualised approach to the female body. I also recently met a wonderful feminist photographer called Fanny Beckman and she kind of helped me to make sure I was doing that well. So making sure, for instance, I was not shooting from above. Making sure that women are always in empowered positions, and never focusing on the conventionally sexy parts of the body. And also just celebrating natural beauty, so not being afraid to show nipples, but also not giving the whole focus to that.
Also the models on your Instagram; you have models bearing scars, breastfeeding. What was the thought process behind this casting and why do you think it’s important?
Well actually, I feel that actually I’m not doing enough to represent all women, even though that is very much my intention. Partly its because it is quite difficult to find models who are bigger than a size 10-12. But then I had this brainwave, and I asked the community earlier on this year whether anyone would like to come and shoot with us for an all women campaign. And I was completely overwhelmed by the response from women far and wide. I had to say to some women from Australia ‘look, sorry this is just Brighton!’. Although I did have some sisters come from London and various other women from around Brighton. And that was really eye opening for me because I realised I didn’t have to work with models. In fact wonderful, every day women who wouldn’t consider themselves as conventional models are sometimes even better. And it really is my intention to celebrate everybody so it’s always on my mind how can we increase diversity? How can we increase showcasing everybody? People who have physical disabilities, to skin colour, to mothers, to new mothers, I’m about to be one so I need to make sure we include everybody. And different ages, which isn’t something I’m doing so well on, but it’s coming. And we are due to have another community shoot soon, so thanks to the response to the community, that made me feel that its something that people want to see.
It is. It really made me quite emotional actually seeing a lot of the photos. Representation is so bad at the moment. And seeing women being there for other women is such a nice thing. Which leads me onto the #youbeyou campaign you’re doing on Instagram. Would you like to say a little bit more about that?
Yeah! So, it came out of my passion for wanting to support women to celebrate who they are, on the inside and the outside. And I realised I couldn’t just encourage women to do it, and not to it myself. So me and my right hand seamstress, Lou, decided to kick start the campaign and we got down to our undies. And we encouraged other women to celebrate themselves in their normal skins, and a bit of lace. That’s something we are going to pick up on next year.
What are your plans for the future of Brighton Lace?
So at the moment, I am currently thinking about my maternity leave, and handing over to my lovely team! We have a new pieces made from upcycled cashmere coming out. Cashmere is sourced which can’t be used due to holes, but we cut patterns around the damage so the fabric can still be used. I also think there will be much more focus on the local community, more diversity, more collaborations with interesting people and growing online. It’s my intention to become better known as one of the few ethical lingerie companies in the UK, that’s on my agenda.
Article Written: Emily Turner
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