In the bustling heart of London, a dynamic duo is making waves in the world of sustainable fashion. Sisters and fashion designers, Silvy and Melissa Fernandes, have launched a groundbreaking swimwear brand that combines cutting-edge style with a commitment to the environment. Their collection, entirely crafted from dead stock recycled fabric, redefines luxury swimwear with a conscience. By transforming surplus materials into stunning, high-quality pieces, these visionary sisters are not only setting trends but also championing a more sustainable future for fashion.
Who or what are your inspirations for creating your designs?
Our biggest inspiration for creating our designs is practicality. As well as just making flattering garments which look great when photographed, we pride ourselves in making clothes which feel good and are comfortable to wear all day. We also use our experiences from our travels as key drivers for potential styles, colour palettes, and garment shapes. In terms of people, our inspiration is the everyday person. It’s great to have huge celebrities as inspiration but it’s not entirely practical and realistic for everyday working women and young girls. This in mind our styles are not ones you’d wear once only and never again but ones which can be worn for a really long time.
Creative expression can take many forms, what made you decide to start your own fashion brand?
Creating our own brand has always been a dream ever since we were little. As sisters, we loved dressing up, adapting existing styles and simply just window shopping in hopes to find inspiration. A little later on down the line, when it came to decision making during and after university, we took the leap to start Ama Thea The Label.
In your opinion, what are the most critical aspects of the fashion industry?
We believe the most critical aspect of the fashion industry is opinions. Not being size inclusive, questioning where your clothes are made etc. Fashion is so diverse and filled with loads of opinions that sometimes people feel like they need to fit into a specific mould in order to be accepted or even just respected in a community greatly run by people with power and wealth.
What does fashion mean to you?
Wearing what you like and not following trends. Trends are not always sustainable. So many people follow trends and when these trends are out of fashion they no longer wear the clothes they bought which creates a sustainable problem. We believe in purchasing timeless clothes that can be worn year after year. This was one of the reasons why we started Ama Thea The Label.
What do you believe are the essential elements needed to be successful as a fashion designer?
Having continuous drive and self belief is really important. It’s really easy to let people bring you down in this business but having really strong beliefs in yourself and what your capabilities are is vital. Being your own person is also really essential. Having a unique selling point sets you apart from everyone else and makes being noticed in such a competitive industry a whole lot easier. As many times as it’s been said, we also think consistency is important. In order to get your name out there, there needs to be someone to be found and so constantly sharing what you’re doing and creating is quite important.
Talk to us about the collection you showed at The W Fashion Week September 2023, what inspired this collection?
Our fashion week collection featured someone from our first set of dresses that we derived. We wanted to showcase our swimwear which is what we started with as a brand but we also wanted to show our versatility with our coverups and elevating the norm which is already seen. We were bold with our colours and chose what we thought brought tropical vibes which is what our brand initially was all about.
What are your favourite trends?
Some of our favourite trends are prints. Some of the classic animal prints, new abstract prints and anything colour. This is something we want to explore a lot more with our brands progression especially since it advances our aesthetic of everything vacation. This being said, not following trends is something we try to do. Being a brand all about timeless pieces and ensuring sustainability, following trends and feeding into the throwaway fashion concept is not something we want to do with our brand.
Do you wear your own designs?
Yes, we like to mix and match our clothes with other clothing we already have. When going abroad Ama Thea The Label is one of our main clothing brands and we proudly wear it.
How would you describe your personal style?
Feeling comfortable and confident is our main aim for fashion. We really love to switch it up a lot with colours and also neutrals which we feel is reflected through our brand. We do have days where we prioritise comfortability but there are also days where we wear streetwear. We’re not the glamorous type so dressing up with full face of makeup isn’t really our vibe yet we do admire those who rock this aesthetic.
What do you do to track trends and stay in touch with the current consumer?
A lot of the time we use social media as our starting point, looking at brands that we love and wear ourselves and identify what we love about each piece, what we can do to elevate that design feature, what we can do to make it even better. We drape our ideas on the mannequin. We don’t really do much sketching as we like to see everything in 3D. We like to mix our favourite features from our favourite pieces in our own wardrobes. Our brand also focuses on perfecting the fit of our styles, we like to incorporate our pattern making knowledge to our designs to make our designs flatter the body and make our clothing comfortable to wear.
How would you describe your brand aesthetics?
We originally started as a swim brand and we’re now starting to slowly branch out into new avenues and exploring clothing for all seasons. This is something we’re really excited for. We really just want to make inclusive styles for all women and really hone down on being sustainable. This in mind, we love colour and experimenting with what could both complement and attenuate all skin tones. We are very soon going to be releasing new designs with prints!
What was your biggest fear when going out and starting your own line?
Our biggest fear was that we were going to invest a lot of money into the brand and have no sales. We think a lot of people who start a brand fear this. It’s only natural but we think if you research who your target market is, what they want to buy. Exposure is so important and it’s the only way a brand will make a sale.
What is the typical design process like for your brand?
As a brand we really enjoy creating garments initially with basic pattern blocks and adapting it into different styles. From this we create the pattern once we’re happy with the final outcome. This process is a lot quicker than the typical production method of making a pattern and working robotically. This allows for more freedom and it’s also a lot more enjoyable. We love working on the stand and just experimenting with the fabrics.
If you were not a fashion designer, what would you want to be?
We feel as though fashion is a huge part of who we are. This being said, we’d like to believe we’d still be incorporated in the fashion industry somehow or perhaps just doing a creative job.
What are you fascinated by at the moment and how does it feed into your work?
We’re really into the aesthetic of being abroad, the connotations of being at peace and colours and vibes of being surrounded by new cultures and the overall feeling of immersing yourself in new environments.
What is the biggest lesson that you have learned since you started your own label?
Everything takes time, no matter how much planning you do behind the scenes and how prepared you might think you are there’ll always be setbacks. Don’t let other people’s opinions crush your dreams. Not everyone will like what you’re producing and they will voice their opinions but it’s always best to ignore those people and just keep doing what makes you happy.
What advice would you give to young designers?
There’s going to be ups and downs when starting your brand. It’s not going to be easy because if it was, everyone would be doing it. We feel as though you’ve got to really ask yourself before taking on this journey if this is something you really want to pursue. It’s extremely hard to get your name out there especially without the right contacts/platforms but we feel as though if you’re super determined nothing would come in your way. There’s only a select amount of people that actually make a difference in fashion and so think about what makes you stand out and let that shine for you.
How do you choose your fabrics and where are they sourced from?
We request swatches from different fabric suppliers to feel the fabrics and stretch them, we feel it’s important to feel the fabrics and choose what fabrics suit each style the best. We value sustainability so much that we think about how we can be more sustainable when making our clothes therefore we like to work with suppliers that have deadstock high quality fabrics. Instead of purchasing new fabrics or getting fabrics to be made for us, we like to use what is already existing out there and make something new with it.
What role do you think social media plays in fashion today?
Social media plays a massive role in fashion. So much of what we see on social media drives what’s happening in fashion. It keeps everyone connected and up to date with what brands are doing and what’s ‘trending’. Despite this, we feel like social media doesn’t necessarily have a great impact even if it’s a key driver for the majority of people’s lives. Fashion should be fun and not a chore. Dressing how you feel most confident is all the more impactful than just dressing how you think other people think you should dress. It’s also a lot nicer to see fashion used as an expression rather than a copycat show.
