Interview: In conversation with Sarah-Jane Abrahams and Helle Them-Enger
We sit down with Sarah-Jane Abrahams and Helle Them-Enger, co-founding directors of Faithfull the Brand, to find out more about the inspiration behind their new SS21 'Le Temps Des Fleurs' collection for Mode Sportif.
“Tell us about the inspiration behind the newly launched Spring 21 collection, Les temps des fleurs.”
"Our forever muse, Marianne Faithfull, is a large inspiration behind 'Le temps des fleur’ (The time of flowers), with her influence taking form in the way of smock dresses, dainty prints and feminine accents throughout the collection.
The dreamy, prairie aesthetic of our campaign, which was photographed amongst the picturesque, rolling hills of the Byron Bay hinterland, Australia, is loosely inspired by the 1975 Australian cult classic, The Picnic At Hanging Rock, as a subtle nod to the whimsical, Edwardian-era of the film."
“When designing a collection what are the first steps you take?”
"Our collections are always conceptualised around our campaign location / key destination and muse for the season. The design process always starts here, and from there on we form our mood-board drawing inspiration from the past (vintage muses, art, music) and our FAITHFULL girls (who they are, what do they like to do, what are they wearing). Once our mood-board is completed we create our colour palette, print direction and key shapes of the particular collection.
We loved bringing this collection back to Australia and to the Byron Bay hinterland, and back to our forever muse Marianne Faithfull. It was a personal collection to design and we loved seeing it come to life."
“You have some new fabrications this season, please share with us what they are?”
"We are committed to making better choices every day across the business to minimise our environmental impact. As part of this journey, we are focusing on bringing in more certified sustainable fabrications to our collections. 40% of the fabrics we chose to use across this collection are now certified “Ecovero” fibres, which are renewable wood sources using an eco-responsible production process by meeting high environmental standards. Plain and printed linen also continues to be a big part of our collections.
We just love working with this particular fabrication - not only because of how it wears, but also because linen is considered to be the strongest of all-natural fibres with a low environmental impact. The linen we now use is sourced, grown and cultivated in Normandy, France, following the European Flax® standard. This means that our linen is grown naturally without artificial irrigation and does not use genetically modified seeds or defoliants.
Lastly, for our Spring’21 Collection, we were so excited to introduce ECONYL®, a 100% regenerated nylon made from abandoned fishing nets and nylon waste from landfills and oceans around the world, for our printed swimwear collection."
“What comes to mind when you think of Spring?”
"We absolutely love Spring and it is our favourite season of the year which is why we always love designing this particular collection. Spring is the season of new beginnings. It means flowers in bloom, longer and warmer days (we can finally wear a little dress again), sharing a glass of wine or meal with friends whilst sitting outside in the fresh air."
“What is your favourite piece from the collection and why?”
"Sarah: I love wearing the Nikoleta Mini Dress. It is an easy-wear and feminine picnic dress perfect to wear for a weekend getaway or a Sunday brunch styled back with a woven bag and nude sandals.
Helle: One of my favourite pieces to wear from this collection is the Edee Wrap Dress. This dress is a timeless wardrobe essential that I can wear on repeat throughout the seasons. I like wearing this dress with flat black sandals and simple gold jewellery."
