We like to call FAIRLING an online dating site for brands: The goal is to get a perfect and long-lasting match between brands and stores. And we can tell you this much: There is already quite an amount of great FAIRLING-Love Stories to tell. One of them is the story of Refished.

Refished’s brand story is the perfect example of a young emerging brand that pays attention not only to design and functionality but also to sustainability and social aspects. Refished creates fashion and accessories from, for example, fish feed sacks or cement bags, following an Upcycling approach.

Refished joined the FAIRLING community in July 2019. Since then they got several product requests from all over Europe and experienced one very special love story, which we’re very excited about. Here’s the story of Refished:

How did it all start? What’s the idea behind Refished?

The story of my fair fashion label began on a long trip through Asia. I kept noticing the many colourful fish food sacks that were lying around everywhere or were used by the locals for all kinds of things. The material is very light, durable and water-repellent and therefore perfect for making bags out of it. Besides, there is less waste if you reuse the old bags and make something beautiful out of them…

Because I wanted to do everything with respect for people and the nature, I established the following principle from the very beginning: “Style and ethics are not contradictory!”

Who are the people behind the brand? Tell us something about yourselves.

My name is Sissi Vogler and I am the founder of the label and still a one-person business. However, I have a lot of support in my surroundings. For example, my mother Isolde does the product design with me, my husband Marcel helps me with strategy and finance – and then of course there are our seamstresses and sewers who make our products with love in Phnom Penh as well as in Vienna. You can get to know them all a little better on our Website.

What was your favourite highlight or happy moment in the last months?

Definitely 30th October 2020 – when we opened our first REFISHED store – the so-called REFISHEREI in Vienna. That was always a big dream of mine! On the Monday after the 2nd lockdown in Austria unfortunately began…but we’re excited anyway.

Refished backpacks, bags and passport cases on a table

In marketing and sales, you rely on strong, long-term relationships with your retailers. Why do they choose you? (And why do you choose them?)

Sustainability, as well as the background of a product, is very important to us and our retailers. Accordingly, you should be able to tell transparently where your products come from, who made them and make sure that the conditions and the wages for the employees are fair. We also attach great importance to a harmonic “style”, i.e. our product must fit well into the business – and vice versa.

You have received 22 requests from new retailers at FAIRLING so far. Can you give us a little background information on one of these love stories? 🙂

We were very happy to see that our first international request came in only 4 days after we signed up to FAIRLING. The following requests were from stores all over Europe, e.g. from France, Italy, Serbia or Germany. A little more than half of these requests led to a small test order. But our ultimate love story is the one between REFISHED and Plan B. Mode from Cologne.

Karin is a ladies’ dressmaker and has a cute little boutique in Cologne-Südstatt. She loves colours and sews great dresses in many colourful fabrics. She then combines them with our popular Soulmate bag (a shopper or a bath bag) or our mobile phone chain. She lovingly puts together amazing outfits that you can admire in the beautiful shop window. Once I visited her in Cologne and spent 10 minutes dreaming in front of her shop window. I thought to myself, “I’d like to have a little shop like that.” And about 10 months later the time had come. 🙂

the label of refished is sewed on a product

Where should the journey go? What is the vision of Refished?

We still have many great new collections in mind, not only from cement and fish food bags and flags but also from other special materials that are suitable for upcycling. Maybe also from other countries, because we always have sewing done where the basic material comes from. Be curious!

Is there anything you would definitely advise other young, emerging brands to do?

Always follow your heart, believe in your vision and be persistent!

Thank you, Sissi, for the great interview and all the best for you and your brand! Hopefully, there will be many more Love Stories for you to experience!

Company:	Refished
Founder:	Sissi Vogler
Country:	Austria
FAIRLING member since:	Jul 26, 2019
First international request:	Jul 30, 2019
Locations of interested stores:	17 cities (6 countries)
Success of first advertisement:	4 requests, 150 interactions

You want to be part of FAIRLING, too?

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