Well, we're pleased people have been asking the above question, we certainly need more slow fashion, less disposable cheap shit we all have loads of. Excuse our language, but we're all guilty of it! So here it goes...
We tick a number of boxes when it comes to sustainability :
Will we be going out to production in China etc? Hell no...We have a different plan for that. We'll be buying a few more sewing machines soon and when it gets to it, we will employ people to come and work WITH us, not for us. We'd love to have a mixture of people who already know the trade and who would like to learn from us.
We hope this gives you a better image of what Vel-Oh is, basically it's two humans letting their creativity flow in forms of bags and accessories #inspiredbycycling.
If you're not bored of reading this blog post yet we'd like to tell you how Vel-Oh changed us as people and not just as designers. Vel-Oh opened our eyes in many ways, it has made us shop more sensibly, we find ourselves doing the #shopsmall or #shoplocal thing rather than just shopping the high street brands or other easy choices that always surround us. There's something quite magical about purchasing something handmade or from a small business. We also use the services of independent freelance people when we need them like photographers or illustrators etc and we'll gladly let you know who they are!
It made us question our waste, we chose not to have a binman here in our Irish home/studio, so we have to compost & recycle. Therefore we became aware of how much plastic we accumulate very quickly, hence us going plastic free as a brand because we did not want to add to that pile of single-use plastics and every little helps, right?
Vel-Oh made us cycle more, even though we were already using our bikes as transport around the city, Vel-Oh gave us the freedom to use our bikes even more, go further, explore things on two wheels rather than four. We do not own a car and even though it gets quite difficult and challenging in the winter (living in rural Ireland) we are still resisting purchasing one and doing it on two wheels powered by our skinny legs, with the occasional lift of our friends to the airport etc. Having a small business changed our lives quite a bit we think, so thank you for being part of our story!
Much love
Greta & Zulfi Moon
#handmadeisbetter