Zady, a brand educating and inspiring the world through ethical fashion

With their rich background of travelling to some of the most cultural places in the world, Maxine Bédat and Soraya Darabi, the Founders of Zady, realised the worth of having a story to tell.

Travelling across Zambia and Nepal, Maxine discovered the world of cultural artisans and was inspired by the talent that wasn’t being given the attention it deserved. For Soraya, her inspiration came after watching the film ‘Norma Rae’ in high school. Following this, she asked all her classmates to rip out the labels in their sweaters and show solidarity for those who made them.

With similar aspirations, Maxine and Soraya went about starting Zady, the cultural and ethical fashion business striving to make a difference not just to the environment and craftsmen, but also for the customers.

Partnered with the non-profit organisation, ‘The Bootstrap Project’, Zady’s aim was to allow people to feel good about the clothes they wear, mixing high fashion clothes with sustainability and focusing on finding them from moral and traditional sources.

“The Bootstrap Project focuses on beautifully made items from the developing world, and helping artisans preserve heritage craft traditions. We realized that preserving wonderful traditions in manufacturing is essential in the United States and Europe too.”

For both Maxine and Soraya, giving an array of cultured and talented craftsmen the chance to sell their products to a wide customer base is one of the most rewarding aspects of Zady. “We feel fortunate, working with our non-profit partner, to meet so many amazing people and to give them a platform and visibility to sell the fruits of their labour.”

For customers, it was the idea of ‘conscious consumerism’, a term coined by one of the Whole Foods Market founders Mackey, which made Zady attractive as a brand. With a generation of people who are gaining insight into the harmful effects of fast fashion and looking for more ethically produced products, Zady provides an alternative, still making high fashion and long lasting products available.

As part of a concept called the ‘slow fashion movement’, they brand themselves around the fact that the clothes they sell are well and expertly made to last the customer for years.

“It's the antithesis of ‘fast-fashion’ which results in harmful conditions for our environment and landfills full of clothing worn once or twice. One by one global citizens are waking up to the detrimental effects of fast fashion. The movement is growing, one person at a time.”

However, one of the main challenges Maxine and Soraya have come across since the start of Zady has been finding brands that fit their criteria.

“Our products must be stylish, first and foremost, but also sustainably produced. We prefer to only work with brands that use high quality raw materials. And with just those three elements, we've ruled out 99% of the lines in the world to choose from,” they explain.

However, with their sights set on making a difference with Zady, the challenges they face have been worth it for the strength of their brand. “For us, that's alright, as being discerning is part of our business model. Curation is everything.”

It is with this defined criteria that Zady has become not just a refreshing business but also a fascinating one, each and every one of Zady’s designers have incredible backstories, rich in culture and emotions, making each item of clothing a customer buys that little bit more special.

“We love when there is an incredible story behind a product. Zady provides customers with the story behind each brand, as well as history behind its respective products. The whole Zady shopping experience is editorialized because we feel consumers appreciate products more when they have a backstory to relay to their friends,” Maxine and Soraya explain.

Interviewing every brand owner and creator to gain a little insight into the inspiration behind their products allows them to build a relationship with the brands that they can pass on to customers.

Not only are the products sold by Zady inspired by the world, they are also sold across the world, including places such as Nepal, Peru, Italy and Zambia. Being an online brand, it has been possible for Zady to reach worldwide customers sparking an array of positive feedback.

“The global response has been tremendous, we’ve read and translated blog posts about how needed Zady is in languages like Portuguese and Japanese and it’s thrilling to see the results of our work span the globe.”

Being an online business has its perks when it comes to reaching customers far and wide, however, conscious not to alienate solely within the online brand, Zady often have pop-up shops in order to meet and connect with customers on a more personal level. Yet the importance of their online presence should not be ignored, with sites such as Instagram and Twitter meaning they are constantly communicating with their valued customers.

The most interesting and impressive thing about Zady is the fact that its customer base not only reaches far geographically, but also spans across several generations, from teenagers to grandparents -- Zady offers something for everyone.

“Our primary vision is to see Zady thrive as a brand that millennials and baby boomers alike can embrace as being a stylish and healthy alternative to the status quo.”

Visit www.zady.com to find out more about the brand.