As part of our ongoing series with Designers behind The Vanguard, we sat down with William Lundgren, Founder of BITE STUDIOS.
Co-founded in 2016 by Lundgren, his partner and COO Veronika Kant, Creative Director and Designer Elliot Atkinson and Creative Head and Photographer Suzanne Liv, Bite Studios was a natural choice for The Vanguard program. The brand focuses on both elegance and ethically source practices and products, making it a firm favourite amongst the industry. In our interview, we discussed how William and the team ensure all their pieces are sustainable, why this is important and what are they most excited about in the future.
Where did the inspiration for Bite Studios come from?
BITE (acronym for ‘By Independent Thinkers for Environmental progress’) was founded in 2016, we came together as a collective of creative minds based between Stockholm and London, with a vision to create a brand that married both the aesthetic with our personal core values. We all feel that when we align our thoughts, emotions, and actions we become our highest selves.
It’s amazing to see sustainability at the heart of the brand – how important is it to create fully sustainable and ethical fashion to you?
It is the reason why we exist, we want to offer an alternative model to people who, like us, believe in the urgency to fight climate change and don’t want to compromise when it comes to the clothes we wear. It starts at the very beginning in sourcing and developing new materials. All of our styles are made with natural organics or recycled certified fibres. We work together with our suppliers developing high quality organic silk, organic cotton, organic wool, organic linen to recycled polyester and innovative fabrics such as bio-vegetable leather. Every piece is designed to last. We also offer a buy-back on pieces, re-collecting used styles and adding it to our digital BITE archive, which we re-design and curate as a secondary offering alongside the main collections.
What is the biggest challenge when designing a fully sustainable fashion label?
Sourcing is a laborous process for us, as we reject most of what is available to really work with the best quality, certifications and standards. But it is all worth it in the end and the touch and feel of these fabrics are amazing!It is truly luxurios.
What advice would you give to brands wanting to improve their practices in the same way?
Start with the team, that everyone shares the same values will reflect the choices you make together in the end. And take first steps in talking to your suppliers about exchanging materials into organic or recycled, it is an interesting process working together to improve your practices.
Can you share your highlight from The Vanguard mentorship programme?
We’ve had the incredible opportunity to gain invaluable strategic insight from the programme already. The NAP teams shared knowledge about customer experiences in a digital environment is really at the forefront.
What are you most excited about for the future of Bite Studios?
We are excited about the global outreach that the Vanguard means for us, so we may speak to our customer and invite them on our journey as a pioneering sustainable collective!
