Floria Collective
What motivated you to found Floria Collective?
Froukje was only six months old when she made her first trip to the Caribbean island of Curaçao. After that trip, many more followed and at the age of 23, she decided to make the island her home for a few years. During her time on the island, she enjoyed the slow pace of island life and lived more in touch with nature. This made her more aware of the impact our lifestyle has on others, our planet and ourselves. From that moment on, she knew she wanted to do things differently.
With a degree in fashion and the experience Froukje had gained in the industry, she dreamed of starting her own fashion label. She also knew that the fashion industry is the second biggest polluter in the world and also one of the biggest industries supporting modern slave labor.
It's a trillion-dollar industry that provides jobs for 300 million people each year, of whom only 2% earn a living wage. It's a difficult industry, but one with a huge opportunity for change.
Co-founder Fleur traces her passion for fashion back to her early years, influenced by her father's elegant suits and her grandmother's sense of style. But alongside the joy of clothes, she also recognised the dark side of fashion - the throwaway culture and issues such as modern slavery.
"The joy I feel when wearing a garment must be equal to the joy the designer feels when making it. It is also essential to minimize the impact on the world."
Even if our contribution seems (still) small, we believe in the power of the collective. That's why we want to use Floria to build a collective of conscious women who want to make a difference and be timelessly elegant.
We believe that big change starts with the small, conscious choices you make every day to have a positive impact on yourself, others and our planet.
All of these small decisions that each individual makes will add up until one day we realize that these are the things that make the big difference.