Fashion meets food
Meet Helen Brown, a fashion designer and owner of Kecks clothing, based in Bristol, UK. Helen had experience of running a bar and café at an arts centre but it was fashion that Helen always loved. Kecks clothing is an established fashion line which upcycle clothes (taking old or vintage clothes and making changes to create a new garment). Helen was frustrated with the current direction of the fashion industry – ‘fast fashion’ as she calls it – with pop up shops, one off events and impulse buys online. A store based in the city centre felt like the right solution, encouraging people to put their tablets down and have a shopping experience; feeling the texture of fabrics or the weight of a garment.
Enter Annie Davies, also a Bristol-based fashion designer and owner of Fringe Union clothing line. Fringe Union works with second hand clothes combined with illustrations and prints from collaborating artists. The artist receives a cut of the garment when it’s sold (which settles any dispute about unfair pay for the artist – now that is ethical fashion).
Prior to Phoenix, both Helen and Annie were juggling the full time responsibility of being single mothers, with their dreams to grow their fashion lines. Helen and Annie meeting by chance in 2014 was the tip of the iceberg for making their mutual love of fashion a central focus. The idea of a multi-use space, café-come-shop-come-creative-hub was born.
Let’s talk business
The bad news is that this work involves endless admin. As the Phoenix arts hub was agreed with the letting agents on the basis of it’s sustainability and social community values, there wasn’t an agreed food-supplier or contracted chefs and waitresses. Phoenix never suggests it competes with competitors in the café/restaurant industry – I still remember Annie shaking her head after mentioning a critic reviewing the food, that’s not what it’s all about. The good news is that new skills and enjoyments come out of unusual places. The ethics behind Phoenix lie in re-using materials whether it’s ideas, skills, clothes or food, so the business challenges that came with this encouraged Helen and Annie to think outside of the box.
To Helen’s surprise, she enjoyed handling all of the paperwork and joining the dots whilst Annie managed the café, a task which once daunted her, but she now thrives, working magic behind the counter (note to self – take risks and embrace learning new skills!)
Re-use, recycle and upcycle
Now Annie solely manages Phoenix Café; in between washing dishes she’s waving at freelancers cruising through to the adjoining offices, signing for deliveries or managing her team of fashion interns. The café is a testament to the power of donation and good will – from nearby businesses donating fridges and tills, to the Bristol ReUse group donating equipment and utensils. There’s a soil patch growing fresh veg, and weekly deliveries from Skipchen who sell food to Phoenix on a “pay as you feel” basis (devised after Helen ate at Skipchen and they got chatting – golden rule of networking!). Both Skipchen and Phoenix are a part of the Real Junk Food Project which re-uses perfectly good food that would have otherwise been thrown away.
Skill swap
Phoenix bases itself on old school values, exchanging skills as a currency. The arts hub plays host to a regular skill swap meet-up called Art and Power as well as a meeting point for Fringe Union interns. Prior to Phoenix, Annie knew nothing about running a café – her definition of making a coffee was switching the kettle on, but now her chai latte is one of the best in the city. Annie learnt to make coffee with Extract Coffee Roasters in Bristol whose barista courses are affordable and accessible. In exchange for her newly learnt skills, she tempts new volunteers or unemployed individuals with the offer of learning valuable barista experience, priceless for moving onto a paid position within a coffee shop. There is no rest for the wicked, Annie is now busy battling through the challenges of never ending paperwork to support the café, including an application to convert the business into a community interest company (CIC) which will ensure the company continues to thrive.
Moral of the story
It’s important that I’ve told you the story of both these inspiring and headstrong women. Where there are up days there come down days. Helen is now pursuing a new and different project and Annie is continuing to develop the community value of Phoenix café. Helen and Annie’s dreams of giving back to the community is a central focus to their fashion line and their entrepreneurial aspirations cement the fact that there’s no excuse in holding back on dreams. While personal challenges are one thing, businesses face opposition in negative reviews or funding applications which make the task of admin appear insurmountable. The risk of setting up a business forces you to face fears, providing rewards or skills that you never thought you could call your own.
It’s not all shiny smiles and glossy exteriors, it is long hours and it’s paperwork but you’ll never look back once you get going – all I see with Helen and Annie are two personalities fixated on the future. It’s true that sometimes collaborations don’t stick, sometimes your idea won’t work but challenge almost always forms a seal protecting ambition – so rise above it. True ambition isn’t deterred by red tape or negativity, it jumps over the red tape and through the hoops of pessimism, all the while, forgetting to count the bruises along the way.
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