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JOURNAL - MARCH
So… March has ended with a bang and as we enter into Springtime we are taking a few moments to reflect on what the past few weeks have looked like for us.
LAUNCHING SS20 DURING CORONA
Our team has spent the last year creating and perfecting our upcoming SS20 collection, with plans to launch in mid March. Due to ongoing coronavirus uncertainty, we decided to delay this launch at least a few weeks.
We talked a lot, and weighed all the possibilities - this is totally uncharted territory, and I think everyone is just winging it - doing what feels right in the moment with their small businesses.
Delaying the production and the launch of such a big collection is sort of a big deal for our small fashion brand. We are completely organically grown, which means we have no outside funding, so this is definitely a tough time for us. Mostly, it is a time of uncertainty, which can be quite scary. We are extremely fortunate to have a wonderful relationship of mutual respect and understanding with our tailors - who totally understood the need to call off production for at least a few weeks.
CLOSING ALCHEMY
Our seasonal retail location, Alchemy Goa, usually closes in early April, but we also made the decision to close a few weeks early as the coronavirus spread throughout the world. This was a hard decision for us to close preemptively, but ultimately the right one. Only a few days after we announced our closing, India announced what would ultimately become a 100% 21 day completely lockdown. This meant that no one could leave the house for 21 days, so we were quite happy to have been a bit ahead of the curve.
OUR COMMUNITY
However, even within these times of uncertainty, we are more aware than ever what a wonderful community we have surrounding us. We have had so many wonderful customers choose to support us at this time, and write to us telling us that this is their intention, and how they are choosing to spend their hard-earned money. This is so heart-warming for us to realise and brings this past year of hard work into perspective.
We’ve also put more emphasis on making sure the entire FARA team touches in with each other everyday. We check in both about what were working on each day but more importantly as an emotional support system for each other - we are quite a sisterhood!
This extends to many FARA friends as well. As friends slowly move around and get situated in other places on Earth we continue to check in. For example, when our loves Alisa and Andrey left to Koh Phangan it felt essential that we keep in contact and just make sure we were all taken care of. Because of the vast social network all over the world it is so easy to connect people, and this is an amazing resource in this chaotic time!
GETTING CREATIVE
The lockdown has forced us to take some time to ourselves. This means lots of self-care and even more creativity flowing!
We are brimming with ideas and have been talking with all of our friends trying to create as much online fun as possible. Our recent dance giveaway on Instagram with Maxinne Bjork was the first of these ideas, and created sooooo much joy in our lives! It was wonderful to see the affect it had on so many people who needed a bit a movement and joy in their lives.
We are in an extremely fortunate position compared to so many people in the world dealing with this pandemic, and are looking for all ways to support the less fortunate out there. We are currently donating £5 from each online sale to Goa Outreach - a charity that supports Slum/Street kids who live locally around where we are based in Goa, India. Click HERE to donate to this charity.
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