Q&A With Katherine Nasteva
Katherine Nasteva is an international strategy and sustainability consultant, a startup founder that helps brands, NGOs, and international organizations in strategy development and execution, advising designers in the areas of business planning, sustainability, marketing and distribution.
We sat down with Katherine to understand her vision and perspective of the challenges of the sustainability in fashion today and her journey from startup founder to international consultant and advisor!
As a startup founder, what was your biggest mistake and what lessons did you learn? If you could give a piece of advice to young entrepreneurs wanting to start their own fashion business, what would it be?
One of our biggest mistakes starting out with LOZENA was not having a clearly defined strategy. Like all young designers, we were so excited to put our product out there (and expected everyone to love it!), that we didn’t think about the business side very much. We spent at least a year trying to do everything: trade shows, wholesale, fashion weeks, direct-to-consumer, PR, influencer marketing ... to see what would stick, without taking the time to figure out how all of the pieces fit together between our designs, target market, production and distribution schedule. Precious limited resources were wasted (time and money) as a result. The most important piece of advice I would give to any young entrepreneur is to start with a plan. Plans change, and should remain fluid in order to incorporate experience, learnings, and to pivot to opportunities that may come up; however, an understanding of your value proposition, how it translates to potential customers and the ways to operationalize your strategy will save a lot of headaches as you launch and grow your company.
What skills do fashion designers need to move ahead?
A fashion startup needs a creative visionary and a business-savvy combination to thrive. More often than not these are diverging skill sets. As an emerging designer you need to have a co-founder, or hire people who are well versed in the non-glamorous aspects of fashion including finance, marketing, distribution, inventory management, logistics, operations, retail, supply chains, etc. who can execute on your vision. I’m a big proponent of the strengths-based leadership model. Build your company by focusing on and developing talents as opposed to compensating for weaknesses in order to maximize the effectiveness of your team as you grow.
What advice can you recommend for dealing with failure?
Don’t worry about your failures too much, and use them as learning opportunities. For one, you won’t be inclined to repeat those mistakes down the line. Secondly, the things you think are A VERY BIG DEAL at the moment usually aren’t, and you will be able to find a (hopefully) not too expensive solution to your problem. Startup founders/designers/CEOs are in the business of crisis management, at least for the first few years! Adopting this mindset is freeing and will allow you to respond to mistakes without taking them personally, as things will definitely go wrong pretty much every day you’re in business.
What are the biggest challenges for a startup dedicated to sustainability?
Fashion is especially hard because the industry is fragmented, with low barriers allowing for many, many new entrants into the market at any point in time. Pursuing environmental sustainability and ethical sourcing and production practices adds a layer of complexity in a traditional fashion company where the intent is to create and sell new products. Startups here have an advantage in being able to build a company that reflects the values of the founders without having to overhaul an entrenched supply chain. However, as a new sustainable brand your product is niche and expensive, but doesn’t have the cachet like heritage brands or the marketing power behind larger, more well-known companies. You’re competing for consumer dollars across the entire industry from the mass market to high-end luxury segments, not just against other sustainable brands. When it comes to apparel, consumers again and again emphasize price, fit, design, quality - and availability - over sustainability. With such a vast pool of competitors these are all challenges that any fashion business has to overcome; however, it’s much more pronounced when you’re pursuing a triple bottom line business that can be undercut by cheaper and faster alternatives.
Sustainability is a core value for you. Why are ethical production methods important and how are they used in our products?
We started our company with sustainability in mind from day one. LOZENA was always about design, craftsmanship, and above all, people and planet. We paid seamstresses and artisans living wages, and often sourced small-batch, handwoven materials such as alpaca wool and peace silk from women’s cooperatives. Our brand prioritized the design and materials end of the product life cycle by using biodegradable fibers including silk, wool, organic cotton, and hemp; also making sure our materials were without harmful dyes and finishing processes. We did a limited run with designer dead stock in our second collection with three designs incorporating synthetic fabrics, which were sourced from the leftover materials of luxury fashion houses.
It’s important to consider that there are always going to be tradeoffs when it comes to sustainability because “sustainability” is a catch-all term referring to many different aspects of a product or business. Whether it’s synthetic fibers and the associated greenhouse gases emitted while creating them, vs. the amount of water used in agricultural crops like cotton, or respecting animal rights with vegan leather alternatives (most of which are non-biodegradable) vs. the product’s end-of-life and waste management implications; it’s up to the founders the direction they want to prioritize, and the brand story should be communicated clearly to consumers.
Fashion has an outsized environmental and social impact, and the industry is far from making meaningful progress. Fast fashion is the dominant business model, where cheap labor and materials prevail, driving an environmental waste management crisis and a race-to-the-bottom in both the final price of a product and the employment practices in factories where it was made.
Whether or not consumers are aware, fashion comes at a cost even if they’re not the ones paying it. The overwhelming success of fast fashion behemoths reflects consumer sentiment and our craving for newness, with these retailers unveiling nearly twenty collections per year within a four week design-to-store turnaround; and, there is no sign that the industry is slowing down. Clothing production doubled in the last two decades, while utilization (meaning the average no. of times a garment has been worn), plummeted by 36% over the same period. Recent calculations by the UN Environment Program estimate the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions at nearly 10% - equivalent to the emissions of the European Union. The 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh was a high-profile disaster, highlighting the horrendous conditions in which garment workers are forced to operate. Since then, countless accords and agreements have been signed and industry organizations formed around environmental sustainability and ethical and transparent supply chains - with little to show for it at the end of 2019. While incremental progress by brands is welcome, we need to fundamentally rethink whether the industry’s operating model is sufficient to not only stem, but reverse the damage it has created moving forward.
How has the apparel scene evolved in the Bay Area?
It’s refreshing to see not only an explosion of emerging designers and startups who care about sustainability and craftsmanship, but also innovative business models at different points throughout the value chain. The scene is so vibrant! Established brands are in on the game with impressive initiatives focused on incorporating sustainability from the design/concept phase, like Gap; and in the case of Levi’s, automating the denim finishing process, which has the potential to conserve water and eliminate thousands of dangerous chemicals that affect workers’ health and pollute waterways from the supply chain. The Bay Area has always been on the cutting edge of environmental and socially responsible business, and this new energy building upon the leadership of local eco-fashion pioneers is exciting.
Did you have any mentors?
I was very fortunate to start my career in Washington, DC, with an organization focused on women’s empowerment. I was able to learn a great deal from my extraordinary colleagues, as well as women from around the world who took part in the organization’s leadership, entrepreneurship and economic development programs. I credit my boss at the time for helping me cultivate real skills that inspired my entrepreneurship journey, and imparting valuable insights as I’ve pursued different opportunities. I truly value our relationship and her consistent support throughout the years, and continue to turn to her for help and advice.
Thank you, Kathrine!