SNAZZY

Hey beautiful souls, I’m more than excited to introduce another gorgeous label to you today: Snazzy
We here at Bohemian Diesel are in love with their gorgeous designs ever since we discovered the brand, so I couldn’t be happier to share the interview we did with the lovely Stefani, founder of Snazzy, with you now:

Who is behind Be Snazzy? And where do you call home?
So Snazzy began as a curated marketplace initially, when I (Stefani) decided to put my eye for exotic accessories to good use and set up my own website selling them. Not long after, I discovered a small workshop in India through a friend who lives in New Delhi and began directly working with artisans for one-of-a-kind bags made using off cut vintage fabrics. In a way – Snazzy the brand was born that very moment. Shortly after, I was reconnected with my childhood friend Natasha who with her strong Fashion background was keen to join the brand at this exciting stage! With that coming together, Snazzy suddenly became a business. We are based in London – so I guess that would be home – but both grew up on the island of Cyprus.

What gave you the push to create your own label?
A combination of things really. I didn’t really like working for a big company and feeling restricted on my creativity and ideas. I like fast-moving environments, and I loved the idea of creating something that would hopefully make a difference. Working with artisans, promoting their traditional skills and helping them to make a living is something incredibly rewarding. It’s also very humbling to think that we are even in a small way contributing to the preservation of these amazing cultures. I was fascinated by traditional craftsmanship and the idea of making beautiful products that you would keep in your wardrobe as a treasure for years to come.

Tell us about Be Snazzy and the artisans you work with!
At the moment we work with artisans in India, Morocco and Kenya. Each region has its own skillset of course – and typically in India we work with women artisans, in Morocco men artisans and in Kenya it is a 50/50 split approximately. In India we work with embroidery, crochet and banjara off cut embroidery, in Kenya we work with upcycled brass and handpainted wood, and in Morocco we work with a mix of traditionally tanned leather and more recently salvaged Italian leather as well as traditionally woven berber rugs for our pieces. Working with artisans definitely has its challenges at times but it’s absolutely worth it.

What are three words you would use to describe the women that wears your designs?
Individual – authentic – bold

Who and what inspires you?
Tradition, culture and travel inspire us. Our artisans inspire us. It’s amazing what people can do with a skilled set of hands.

What are you most proud off?
Every little milestone has it’s own sweetness. We’re proud to be able to work with artisans on a reoccurring basis, offering them as stable an income as we can.

What does “being free” mean to you?
“Being free” means being creative, being who you really are, breaking free from constraints imposed on us by society which usually tell us what we should wear, what we should look like and how we should act. Too many people look the same these days; too many people follow the rule book just because it’s the safe bet. They’re not really free.

The mantras you live by…
” Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will”
“The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do”

Where will the next stamp on your passport be from?
Hopefully somewhere very very far away. Maybe India! 🙂

Everyone should at least once in their life…
Try to do what they really love.

Do you have a dream project?
If I did I’d be working on it right now.

What’s your vision for the future of your brand?
The vision is to build a strong brand that people will love and understand. It’s not always easy to awaken people to the problems of the fashion industry. There is SO much unnecessary waste and pollution caused by “fast fashion” – which essentially comes down to people buying cheap, mass-produced products that they end up throwing up away pretty quickly. Also sadly the majority of brands still to this day are not transparent enough about their supply chain and their employees work in very poor conditions for very little.

As a fair-trade brand, we are always looking for ways to add as much sustainability & ethical approaches to our design process. Most recently we have sourced a range of salvaged leather to use for our latest product – the Aziza belt bag. Using off-cuts of luxury leather that would have otherwise been disposed of, is a way of consciously adding to the sustainable side to the fashion industry. We are by no means perfect, but our commitment to taking more responsibility in all areas of the ‘Fashion Revolution’ movement, is something that we are always working towards.

Our vision is to play our part in changing people’s minds about becoming more conscious about their purchases. We want to promote artisan fashion, to encourage people to buy from fair-trade/ sustainable brands where possible, and to support traditional skills that help keep skilled artisans in demand and cultures alive.