Meet Monika Young, a London-based creative, ex-fast fashion buyer and a lover of all things California.
When her buying job in Berlin started giving her the blues, she knew she had to make a change. She saw first-hand how fast fashion brands were destroying the planet and she wasn’t down for being part of the problem.
Launching Monika The Label was born out of her love for fashion and desire to re-imagine how a fashion brand can be fun and do good at the same time.
Listen to this episode and discover:
- How her dream job of being a buyer pushed Monika to walk away and start her own brand doing the opposite of everything she experienced and learned as a buyer;
- How she balanced sourcing and manufacturing in the UK with offering a well priced mid-market product that is affordable for her customer base;
- How she got copied multiple times and her approach to dealing with this creative “worst nightmare” type of challenge;
- What her plans for growing her label are and what she is ding in order to become a fully circular fashion brand;
- How she great a community before she launched her brand;
- much much more…
Key Takeaways:
- “Working as a buyer and seeing the cost prices at which we were buying products made me question the ethics and practices of the industry. How can buying a garment at $3 be possible and provide a living wage for those who make it?”
-
“Even if the garment can no longer be worn, there are many ways in which the fabric can be re-used and up-cycled”
-
“My priority is to focus on growing my brand and myself”
-
“Learn from your mistakes and when things seemingly go wrong, don’t spend too much time feeling down about it because the solution is often so much better than before.”
Resources:
Connect with Monika via:
https://www.monikathelabel.com/
Instagram: @monikathelabel
About the Podcast Host:
Dessy is the author of Become a Fashion Insider book and the founder of Fashion Insiders & Co – an online platform supporting fashion and creative entrepreneurs who are in the process of launching and growing purpose-driven brands. (Buy the book here: https://amzn.to/35wo2y9 )
*** If you would like to book a powerful Breakthrough Power Hour and work through a challenge or strategize how to launch or grow your fashion business, book an hour with Dessy here***
Contact Method:
Fashion Insiders & Co
official website: https://fashioninsiders.co/
Instagram: @fashioninsidersco
Discover more great content on our YouTube channel.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5 *star* rating and a review on iTunes – it helps us get this podcast discovered by more listeners just like yourself. Thank you.
To submit any questions or get in touch with topic suggestions, write to us at insider(at)fashioninsiders(dot)co