“Creating A Community Where The Customer Can Feel Included In The Process of Making Our Collections”: With Sustainable Brand Wanner Label

1. Name?
Josefin Wanner (founder and designer of Wanner Label).

2. Where do you reside?
The business is technically based in Sweden, where it was founded. However, I am currently living in Austria, which is where the design office is.

3. When did you start your collection?
I decided to start my brand around August 2019 and started working on the collection in September by researching and sourcing materials.

4. What’s your story, how did you get into design?
I’ve always loved being creative. I used to spend hours upon hours drawing and painting as a kid. Once I grew a little older, I realized I could use my creativity in deconstructing clothes as well and started playing around with my mum’s old things. I guess it’s safe to say that I always wanted a creative career. I studied natural sciences in high school because people told me that was the best program to keep all my options open and be able to work with something “smart” and make lots of money. But honestly, I quickly realized that that was simply just not what I wanted. So, I went on to university studying fashion (there is a bit more in-between high school and my fashion degree, like working, etc., but that is the gist of it).

5. How do you practice sustainability for your clothing line?
I source all my materials second-hand. That way, as I believe, we make our clothes truly sustainable, even more so than by using recycled/sustainably made materials because this way we remove the whole production process, which is generally a very harmful action for the environment. I believe that the way we have overconsumed for such a long time there is basically an ocean of fabrics, garments, and materials in good shape and quality just waiting to be reused. So instead of just constantly making new things, why not remake the old? We also think about making all aspects of our practice sustainable. All our packaging (carton boxes) are sustainable, and I even found a full box of different sewing threads second hand. The only thing we are still struggling with is the shipping since we are such a small company it is hard to find good deals on eco-friendly shipping (and in a small town in Austria), but that is one of our biggest priorities to sort out. For our next collection, we are experimenting with natural dyes as well.

6. Do you practice it with other things outside of your clothing line, if so please tell us?
I try to buy a lot of my own clothes second hand as well. I also remake some of my clothes when I get tired of them. Even just small things, like taking the legs off a pair of trousers in or up a few cms might make a big difference and make them feel new again. I try to buy organic food as much as possible and minimize the use of plastic, bringing my own canvas bags to the supermarket, etc. It's all small things, and, honestly, I wish I did more, but I still believe that something is always better than nothing.

7. Are their certifications involved to verify sustainable practices? If so what are they)?
For us no. We have been in contact with a few other organizations listing sustainable brands without being a proper certification. The biggest problems with many of these certifications are that they are rather expensive or require a bigger company size (with factories, manufacturers, etc. involved).

8. What amount of care is suggested for the fabric?
Minimal washing. Only wash when it’s absolutely necessary. So many people over wash their clothes and it’s not only bad for the environment, but it wears out the clothes so much faster. Try and wash your clothes in cold water (if the option exists on your washing machine) or as cold as possible, like 30 degrees. Also, don’t put the clothes in the dryer, let them air-dry.

9. Why is this cause so important to you?
Honestly, my baby sister got me into it. She’s been very environmentally aware for years now. She’s vegan, only buys second hand, never flies, etc. And, at first, I think I just started thinking more about sustainability to make her happy and ease her “responsibility to take care of the planet” a bit more. But as I went along and started reading up on things, I realized how important it really is. And the thing is that people can make a lot of difference without necessarily making much of a sacrifice. I think as I was in university studying at a posh place with lots of rich students in Milan, I saw first-hand how people over-consume without a care in the world. How people are just not aware at all about the impact they make on the planet, and society as well, I suppose. As much as I love fashion, I despise the industry. There are so many things wrong about it and I just wanted to take a stand against it.

10. I love the program you have of taking scrap/garment donations and applying a discount on the next purchase, has that been successful?
Not as successful as I would have hoped. I think people are a bit more hesitant than usual to do anything at this moment because of the coronavirus. I can imagine that people who have things at home that they no longer use might feel safer holding onto them for a while longer because of these uncertain times. Hopefully, it will take off a bit more when this calms down. It would be good for the company if it did because it would save us some time in sourcing as well as creating a community where the customer can feel included in the process of making our collections.

11. Tell us about your current collection?
The current collection was a bit of an upside-down process, to be honest. Normally when you make a collection you start ”researching” inspiration, then start thinking about fabrics, sketch up silhouettes, volumes, and ultimately your garments. Because I didn’t know exactly how difficult it would be to find second-hand material, I started by sourcing that. After I had my first few materials I just started going from there. Looking at what I could potentially make from that amount of fabric and how that could create a starting point for me. One of the first pieces I made was the Wool Wave Turtleneck. After I had made that I started looking at pictures, researching inspiration, etc. while simultaneously looking for more fabrics. I think the collection didn’t come to me as a complete project until about halfway through—at which point I had changed and remade several garments.

12. What was the inspiration?
My main inspiration was (and generally is) nature. I wanted to mimic its soft tones and shapes. I suppose I also got a bit involuntary inspired by scarfs and blankets (which is what most of the garments have been made from) making many of them.

Tearsheet Designed By Alison Hernon

13. Do any celebrities wear your clothing?
No, not yet. That would definitely be something, though.

14. Motto in life?
Don’t overthink things and always live life to the fullest. (I suppose that doesn’t directly have anything to do with sustainability, but it’s just what I live by, as I’ve noticed that’s what makes me happy).

15. Website/Instagram?
Website: www.wannerlabel.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wannerlabel

Interview by Alison Hernon, Editor-In-Chief, PhotoBook Magazine.

Style With A Cause highlights designers who support a cause such as sustainability, charities, and fair trade.