Established around the mission to set a new standard for clothing, using technical fabrics, a conscious supply chain (direct-to-consumer) and innovative production process, ADAY and its founders quickly gained recognition for disrupting the fashion industry with their minimalist, meaningful designs.
ADAY’s latest label, Plant Bae, is an ode to their commitment to unique production and a responsible standard, combining beech trees and seaweed to create their first plant-based fabric.
“We’re continually challenging ourselves to innovate further towards a sustainable supply chain and are always exploring new resources to potentially use,” says ADAY’s founders, Meg He and Nina Faulhaber. Both He and Faulhaber believe in the ability to do more with less, which is also why they developed ADAY to simplify the common woman wardrobe hurdles.
The fabric is MicroModal, from the wood pulp of beech trees, blended with Icelandic seaweed fibers. Garnering inspiration from the environment spotlights both the opportunity to utilize renewable resources, as well as the positive effect of harvesting seaweed as a carbon-negative activity.
Available in three tops, the tank, t-shirt, and turtleneck satisfy the seasonal wardrobe staples and maintain ADAY’s mission of simplicity. We caught up with He and Faulhaber to learn more about the motivation behind the collection, sourcing the correct materials to create Plant Bae’s fabrics (which are insanely soft) and how this eco-conscious decision goes way beyond fashion.
Sustainability has always been at the forefront of ADAY’s mission, but when did you decide to take it a step further and create clothing from plant-based fabrics?
ADAY: We were looking to create our first plant-based fabric but did not want to use cotton as cotton is not very sustainable. So we embarked on a journey to find a more sustainable alternative. ADAY’s first plant-based fabric is a sustainable MicroModal derived from wood pulp from beech trees blended with Icelandic seaweed fibers. It’s a blend that’s 90% plant based with its main ingredients being sustainably sourced and manmade made (cellulosics).
Tell me about the process and the challenges to take it from paper to production?
ADAY: Our process starts with intentional design fusing simplicity and versatility. Marrying classic silhouettes with clean lines, we include only the details that are truly necessary. With each new design, we ask: How will we make our favorite staples better? How will we make them last?
Instead of following seasonal trends, we spend our time perfecting the pieces our customers love through wear-testing, customer feedback + experimentation. This allows us to keep improving each of our pieces so they can be loved even more.
What made you decide to source beech trees and seaweed for this first collection? Were there other resources considered?
ADAY: We wanted a fabric that was comfortable, soft and versatile yet felt luxurious, and matched our sustainability requirements.
MicroModal from beachwood trees is derived in a closed-loop system and has proven to be a more sustainable and better alternative to cotton. On top of that seaweed is a fun and versatile plant we are excited by. Most of the world’s oxygen (about 70%) comes from seaweed, and it also makes up roughly nine tenths of all the plant-like life on Earth. Many seaweeds also contain anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agents.
Even though the seaweed content itself is small (it acts more of a “booster” ingredient) we love that the collection shines a light on this important renewable resource.
Why was Plant Bae an important next step for the company?
ADAY: The collection shines a light on an important renewable resource: seaweed ecosystems are carbon-negative, and can take up to 20 times more carbon dioxide emissions out of the air than land-based forests.
And why is sustainability so important to you outside the company?
Nina: After buying a lot in my teens, and getting rid of a ton of stuff in my twenties, I adopted a much more minimalist mindset, caring more about experiences than the things I owned. With that, I also started to think a lot more about great product design and ADAY—and our beautifully minimal, yet versatile capsule—became the ultimate minimalist’s dream. A few months after launching ADAY, a trip into nature, a lot of self reflection and reading two books (“Let My People Go Surfing” by Yves Chouinard and “The Upcycle” by Michael Braungart and William McDonough) truly opened my eyes about the impact business can have. Now, I couldn’t imagine creating a product or company that wasn’t focus on creating a better future.
Meg: In everything we do at ADAY, we consciously choose it. I think that’s so important in how we live—that we choose how each part of our life fits into who we are. My partner and I made a choice this year to buy an old yellow school bus and reuse it—to convert it into a mobile, 198-square-foot solar powered home. This choice, of reuse and sustainability and custom design and self-build, made so much more sense to us than renting an apartment.
