Fashion, sustainability, business and sales with Simone Agius of Simetrie, Melbourne based handmade leather label.

If you run an ethical, sustainable, circular or slow fashion label, you're in the right place. I live, love and breathe slow fashion and The Fashion Advocate is the slow fashion ‘business bible’ you've been looking for to help you run your fashion business with a clear strategy and with purpose, ease and joy.

I know we can use fashion as a force for good, so I share strategies and solutions to help you change the world through fashion and increase your impact and sales. We need to succeed as a community of slow fashion brands if we’re going to change the world, and that means sharing wisdom and sharing strategies to support each other.

The good, the bad, the ugly, the stuff everyone’s talking about and the stuff we need to talk about more. If it’s happening in the fashion business world, I want to talk about it. Conversations create change and that’s what my weekly LIVE chats are all about.

I speak with incredible guests doing amazing things in the slow fashion industry and we talk about all things fashion, business, sustainability, growth strategies and sales.

And today's Instagram LIVE with Simone Agius, the Founder of Melbourne-based leather bag label Simetrie, was the perfect example of why we need to have honest conversations in the fashion industry. Simone openly shared experiences that were simultaneously hard to hear and inspiring at the same time, and if a talent like Simone can be pushed to burnout running a slow fashion business, it’s clear there are a few things going on in the industry that we need to improve.

You can watch the full interview on Instagram here and catch up on the three big takeaways from our chat below...

1. It's easy to start a business, but it's hard to scale one without a strategy.
When Simone started out, she was in love with the idea of running her own slow fashion business but she didn't implement the business strategies she needed for real growth. Simone didn't price her products high enough to pay herself a living wage, and the impact led to slow growth and burnout, making it hard to scale over the years. She's only recently changed her pricing model and now she's approaching business with more of a strategy, but it's a journey.

2. Community and support are everything when you're running a business.
Simone did what she could to carry Simetrie through the pandemic, but the stress of trying to scale for so long coupled with doing too much and wearing all the hats through one of the toughest times in our recent history - led Simone to burn out.
Simone even contemplated quitting and closing down Simetrie, but after ending a relationship, starting a new one with herself, and a year of taking things very slow, she worked out how important the right community and support network is, and she moved forward running her business armed with one.

3. There is no such thing as perfect.
There's no such thing as perfect, in life or in business. Striving for perfection will only lead to burnout, but striving for 80% is good enough. Get to 80%, learn from that experience or the mistakes along the way, move on to the next step and keep learning as you go. Otherwise, you'll get stuck, and you get nowhere. Running a business is about constantly improving and constantly learning, not being 100% perfect 100% of the time.

Learn more about Simone and her work via the Simetrie website here or watch our full Instagram live interview here to learn more about fashion, business, sustainability, sales and growth strategies that you can apply to your own label.

If you're running an ethical, sustainable, circular or slow fashion brand and you have a challenge you're trying to overcome, tune in every week on Instagram to watch my LIVE interviews with brands and businesses who have overcome their own challenges - proving that you can too.

You can also reach out to me here.

Claire x

Fashion, sustainability, business and sales with Simone Agius of Simetrie, Melbourne based handmade leather label

The Fashion Advocate ethical sustainable circular slow fashion business strategy mentor online course marketing how to

I spent my first five years in business stressed and in debt.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or if you're not making enough sales to survive, you're not alone. I've been there.

I was exhausted and I wanted to quit.

Then I worked out a strategy that dramatically changed my business, increased my sales, and saved me time. I want to share it with you!

READ MY STORY

Want to know the top three ways to grow a successful and sustainable fashion brand?

  • ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS

    Every week on Instagram, you can ask me anything about fashion, business, ethical manufacturing, sustainability, and growth to get the answers you need to overcome challenges. Marketing, PR, your strategy, sales, how to wholesale, Instagram engagement, customers, sourcing... Whatever it is, ask me your questions and I'll go LIVE on Instagram with the answers you need to move forward.

    FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM HERE

  • KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

    To build a successful, sustainable and profitable fashion business, you have to empower yourself with knowledge and learn from others in the industry. I ran one of the largest online stores for ethical and sustainable fashion for over a decade, and I learned the ins and outs and the rights and wrongs of building a business. Now I'm sharing my strategies on my blog so you can take what you need to grow!

    READ THE BLOG HERE

  • BUILD YOUR SKILLSET AND LEVEL UP

    The only difference between a big fashion business and a small fashion business is a different skillset. Everything your competitors know - you can learn. My online courses and masterclasses are specifically designed for ethical and sustainable fashion brands, labels and businesses, so you can build your skillset, level up, fast-track your success and increase your impact.

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