Baina

Anna Fahey & Bailey Meredith

Baina
Contemporary organic towelling designed in Melbourne, made in Portugal.
www.shopbaina.com
@shop_baina

“We met in 4th form at high school, and pretty quickly became good friends getting into the same trouble.” That’s Bailey and Anna, co-founders and directors of Baina making elevated essentials in the form of contemporary organic towelling. It’s great stuff.

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While they both still call Aotearoa home, Bailey works from her studio in Titirangi, and Anna from her apartment in Melbourne. They say the best part about running a business is “the freedom, creativity, travel and good company!”

The name Baina comes from an amalgamation of their two names while (very pleasingly) bain is French for bath—it all ties in so nicely. With beautiful campaign imagery shot by Greta Van Der Star and Daniel Walker both here and across the ditch, the hardest part is deciding what to leave off your shopping list.

Is Baina a full time gig? How have you been finding it so far?
Anna: Baina is full time for me. I have a very supportive partner who told me to go all in, so that has been my model. Go all in and squeeze as much out of the opportunity as possible.

Bailey: I split my time between Baina and my other project General Sleep. It has been incredibly rewarding working across two brands.

Explain how the Baina brand fits into the category of ‘elevated necessities’?
After working in fashion for many years, we both understood that whilst clothes are a necessity, fashion is very much a luxury. We adore and will always love fashion, but wanted to create something that could be woven into the everyday and modelled on the same facets that draws us to fashion: brand love and connection. We wanted to apply this concept and put pleasure in a space where we hadn’t felt it before.

“We felt underwhelmed by the market and brands on offer; nothing met our aesthetic. We simply designed these towels for us and our peers—and anyone who seeks pleasure in beautiful things.”

Tell us about your inspiration for colour, texture and pattern.
We spent a long time navigating the many things that inspire us: fashion, art, architecture, natural curves—there was a lot to work with. Because the bathroom is so often a neutral space, it gave us the backdrop to be disruptive whilst keeping things relatively calm and complimentary. We had strong ideas about what needed to be included in the collection, Bailey was absolutely besotted with Bethell’s checks and I was wooed by the curvature of Cove and Clovelly.

What is your ethos and what do you hope to achieve?
To keep learning as women in business and grow our business slowly and mindfully. We want to work closely with others that inspire us and share the same vision, to be creative and considered, take on new markets and hopefully have a wonderful time. And also to create something that’s bigger than just a product!

Do you have a target market in mind?
We really wanted our target market to be as wide and inclusive as possible. In fact, we’ve never really classified who should be our consumer—Baina is for anyone who appreciates good and thoughtful design.

How have sustainability and ethical processes shaped or informed your business?
Anna and I knew from the outset that whatever we created for this world, it had to be done with integrity and consciousness. This meant ensuring our cotton was organic and traceable, the range was as refined as possible and our manufacturers were on board with our vision to execute the brand as sustainably as possible.

Any plans to expand the range?
We are constantly reviewing our position and how we develop Baina through the next stages of its growth. We definitely plan to add to our collection next year but what that looks like is still under discussion.

Okay, one last thing before you go:

Beach day or pool party?
Beach day.

Checks or stripes?
Depends on the mood!

Still or sparkling?
SPARKLING.