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Designer. Baina's
Bailey Meredith & Anna Fahey
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BAINA is an Antipodean brand of curated towelling. Their contemporary, organic cotton towels celebrate the daily bathing ritual, creating a ceremony of everyday self-care. My Chameleon sits with Co-Founders Bailey Meredith and Anna Fahey to talk about their approach to design, inspirations and aspirations for the brand.
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- Quality and simple sustainable design are a strong part of your ethos. What was your main driver in creating Baina?
To us, BAINA needed to represent quality, design and sustainability, all of equal importance. When it came to partnering with a mill, we were unmovable from these elements. They needed to have not only the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) Certification, but also show progression within their industry, prioritising the environment and their team throughout all stages of sourcing and production. Portugal is also well known for its quality and in particular linens. Designing felt easy, we’d both had similar backgrounds in fashion and would often have the same ideas about colour palettes, textures or print. We wanted BAINA to be uncomplicated, classic and appeal to varied aesthetics. We really work through each concept until it feels very refined and true to the brand.
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- You only release one or two new styles or colours a season, How do you manage to show restraint in your offering and why do you do that is it intentional?
We design with permanence in mind and care deeply about the styles we produce. When releasing a new design, we want its purpose to translate, and believe allowing space around a style accentuates this.
- How do you suggest people select the appropriate colour to complement their decor/bathroom etc?
BAINA has been thoughtfully designed in the same way a fashion collection has. As fashion is a way to express oneself, BAINA is too. Designed to be mixed and matched to reflect ones aesthetic. From a strict minimalist, who likes her sets to match, to the playful creative who likes to play with colour and texture. BAINA is designed to be an extension of your individual style.
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- Clearly your development and design process takes time. How do you come up with a new design?
We always want new additions to work back with the current offering. To feel in some way closely related to the originality of BAINA. A way to do this is playing with colour theory, working new colours into merch back into the collection, always keeping the design uncomplicated – limiting details to one or two, and not over-crowding the overall piece. We do sit with a design for a long time before we release, ensuring it is true to brand.
- What inspires you to create?
How we find inspiration is a tricky thing to define, as we both draw our ideas from a multitude of disciplines. It can be sparked from the finest of details, from paint colour to a textural material, a piece of art, furniture or sculpture.
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- Towelling is reflective of the bathroom and beach/pool which is in itself a space for selfcare for many. How do you both relax and revive?
A: I certainly love to carve out time for myself, whether this is a pre-slumber bathe or an extra 15mins in the am to slowly wake, shower and take my time. Regarding bathing rituals, I’ll always ensure my husband knows I’m pouring a bath and will be checking out for the next half hour or so. Beauty products I love, are all-natural and beautiful brands. Our friends at Sans Ceuticals do a lovely pH Perfect Body Wash which smells so calming. For the face I love the Maryse Enzyme Refine Cleansing Balm, its very nourishing and needs to be removed with a face cloth, it leaves the skin feeling moisturised and settled.
B: I'm an active relaxer so I find it easiest to wind down and decompress by going for a walk or drawing a bath and reading a book. My mind isn't easily tamed so I still require some stimulation even when trying to enter a relaxed state. I take a simplistic approach to bathing. A nice candle dimmed lights and maybe a glass of wine depending on the day's events. I love to incorporate some sort of face mask while bathing if I’m feeling extra indulgent. About a year ago, I changed my entire skin routine and started using the entire Maryse range. I absolutely love it and so does my skin.
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