As longtime friends of Make it last already know, we’ve been hosting local fashion fleas in Stockholm since six years back. The first one, in the early fall in 2014, was spontaneous; we invited fashion insider friends to sell with us, and asked some of our favorite brands to contribute with samples that we could sell too. The response was overwhelming, with people queuing up hours before we opened.
We loved pre-owned fashion before, but this event made us aware of what a true force it is. It reminded us of the simple and beautiful fact that we really do not need to buy everything new–it’s even more inspiring to find unique garments that are pre-owned.
And as the field of sustainable fashion has developed since then, both when it comes to research and practices within the industry, it’s now an established fact that the single best thing you can do as an individual when it comes to approaching fashion more sustainably is to really consider your investments–and prolong the lifetime of our clothes.
And already at our launch six years ago, we were huge fans of Vestiaire Collective. Not only did they provide rare, desirable inventory that lovers of vintage and pre-owned fashion could only dream of before. They also stood out by offering quality control, so that buyers would be sure to get what they ordered–in neat packaging elevating the experience further–and considering the seemingly small but significant things like making sure images of every item were of high quality, and curating the content in accordance with the community of fashion lovers’ interests. If anyone thought pre-owned fashion was ’not for them’, Vestiaire Collective proved them wrong. Today, it’s a global platform with a wonderfully engaged community of over 9 million members across 90 countries (!).

So, let’s keep buying unique pieces from each others wardrobe and extend the lifespan of our garment through resale and reuse. It really is a wonderful way of contributing to the circular economy of fashion–the future.

Join the Make it last Fashion Flea on Vestiaire Collective. Live from Friday 29 May at 10 CEST on Vestiaire Collective. Join Vestiaire Collective here.
And hey, we’ve prepared a nice treat for our readers shopping on the Vestiaire Collective app for the first time!

    • WELCOMEMAKEITLASTSE: 200 SEK off 1500 SEK (when shopping from Sweden)
    • WELCOMEMAKEITLASTDK: 150 DKK off 1000 DKK (when shopping from Denmark)
    • valid until end of June
    • 1 time per client
    • First time app orders only

List of participating sellers: Make It Last, Stephanie Broek, Hanna Stefansson, Lisa Olsson, Sania Claus Demina, Hanna MW, Brittany Bathgate, Celine Aagaard, Marie Hindkaer, Wasima Ayad, Columbine Smille, Mikaela Hållén, Chanelle Törnqvist, Ellen Dixdotter, Nhu Duong, Maria van Nguyen and Jonna Bergh.

Lately, dreamy imagery of handcrafted carpets in beautiful settings has caught our eyes on Instagram. The sender is SËBOU, a new brand aiming to share untold stories through the craftsmanship of carpets–and soon ceramics. The carpets are designed in Sweden and knitted by eight women from different tribes in the Kenitra region in Morocco.
Make it last asks co-founder Omar Marhri (pictured above with colleague Wadood Suberu) about SËBOU’S visions and where the idea of launching the brand came from.

– It was never really an idea that just came to me, it is been more of a process after taking interest in the art and craftsmanship of carpets from a very early age. For thousands of years, the Moroccan Berbs have been knotting carpets in the same way with the same historic designs and materials. I’m trying to challenge what has been, mixing old with new, Swedish with Moroccan. I became truly inspired by Märta Måås-Fjetterström’s art of weaving.

How did you find your way to the Kenitra region and the women who knot the carpets?

– I have a family house in Kenitra and I’ve spent most of my summers there. As I got older, I started going on quests in Morocco during my stays. I wanted to find the best weaver, and then I finally found the right person who understood my vision and ideas.

What does the design process look like? 

– It starts when I wake up and ends when I go to sleep. I’m constantly thinking and visualizing colors, objects, sounds and blends. When I have and idea, I narrow it down and create the pattern and match it with colors of yarn that I believe will go well together. Later I work with the weaver to start the weaving process.

What have been some of the most valuable experiences from idea to launch? (Please share the difficult ones!)

– Learning how to work creatively, to design and produce products. This entire process is new to me. And to be honest selling online is one of my bigger challenges. I’ve mostly sold products thru face to face meetings.

You mention ceramics on Instagram – what’s in the pipeline for the brand except for the rugs?

– We will be launching our own SËBOU yarn and design handmade ceramics for restaurants and hotels.

What’s SËBOU’S definition of sustainability?

– Sustainability for us is working with a production process where we make everything from scratch. We make our yarn and we blend our own clay for the ceramic. For us it’s making sure the people we work with are adequately payed and the nature from which we create our products is respected. Quality in our product lays in respect for human being and nature.

Discover SËBOU here and follow here.

We’re so exited to see one of our favorite brands BITE Studios available at Net-a-Porter. As part of the mentorship program The Vanguard, BITE Studios is highlighted as a small label with great potential in the luxury fashion sector. The two tier initiative is comprehensive and connects the brands to senior Net-a_porter staff, like the Managing Director and President, in order to further their business, sales and marketing strategy.

If you don’t know BITE Studios since before, it’s a British-Swedish brand founded in 2016 with “a vision to create luxury womenswear that values the environment, all while focusing on the perfect fit to highlight the female body in the most flattering way”.

The images above are from Collection No 4; the autumn/winter collection for 2019. It’s a predominantly black collection, with hints of caramel, tumeric and brown. The prints are inspired by the watercolours of Irene Monat Stern.

Visit BITE Studios here and follow here. Find BITE Studios on Net-a-Porter here.