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CAN YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELVES, PLEASE?We are Geraldine Kahl and Sarah Andersen, founders of the communications agency AWAKE Communications. With AWAKE Communications we support cool, sustainable fashion and lifestyle brands to tell their story. Through holistic communications consulting and active PR support, we ensure that fair fashion brands and sustainable lifestyle brands are placed in an environment that is relevant to them. Since the optimal strategy for each brand looks different, we find individual solutions tailored to the customer. That's why AWAKE Communications offers social media consulting and influencer relations in addition to classic PR and event support. We also offer sustainable brands the opportunity to book workshops, e.g. for the start of a communication strategy or brand workshops for start-ups. The workshops are particularly close to our hearts, because it is important to us to also offer start-ups a well-founded, professional introduction to external communication. After all, communication is the key to being seen at all. And that's what we are here for.WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?We believe that everyone has the opportunity to contribute something to make the world a better place. We come from the classical fashion communication and because we are good at our job, we want to do it right and support labels that do it just as right but simply need much more attention to be seen. It shouldn't be the exception to produce fashion sustainably. Through our work we want to point out which cool, sustainable labels are out there to increase demand and raise awareness.
SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN DEALING WITH SUSTAINBILITY?We both grew up relatively sustainably, at least in terms of nutrition and the environment in general. Back then it was called eco, today it sounds much less like a potato sack. Our parents have always attached great importance to treating the resources of our nature considerately. We were lucky!
WAS THERE A TRIGGER OR A PERSONAL KEY MOMENT FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THE TOPIC?That was somehow a kind of slow process for both of us. Organic supermarkets and natural cosmetics have always been part of our lifestyle. So it was only a matter of time until we moved from fast to fair fashion. For Sarah, her stay abroad in Singapore contributed extremely to the change of life. She moved to Singapore with only one suitcase with the intention of emigrating for a few years. Here she quickly realized how little you actually need and what a liberating feeling it gives you. This, in contrast to Singapore, as one of the consumer metropolises in general, could also be described as a small key momentum.
WHAT HAS CHANGED IN YOUR LIFESTYLE SINCE THEN?Actually quite a lot, if not almost everything! The birth of our two children and the founding of AWAKE Communications, and with it our independence, came along with the change of life. That in itself was a big change! It wasn't always easy to go from parental leave to self-employment, albeit quite liberating. It feels incredibly good to use our know-how every day to steer the world in the right direction. We would do it again and again.
DO YOU THINK YOU CAN CONVINCE OTHER PEOPLE TO BUY AND LIVE MORE SUSTAINABLE? Yes in any case, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this job. We use media relations to bring sustainability to end consumers and retailers. Through our know-how in connection with our great customers we have the ideal conditions to convince others to buy more sustainably and to live more consciously.
WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT FROM THE FASHION INDUSTRY AND THE CONSUMERS IN THE FUTURE? We hope that consumers will become more critical and demand more.
The campaign of Fashion Revolution Org. under the Hashtag #whomademyclothes summarizes this quite well. We are all responsible consumers and each of our purchasing decisions makes a difference. However, we also believe that there should be political regulators and laws for the fashion industry in the future. The petition #fairbylaw is a good and important approach here. To the petition: https://www.change.org/p/unternehmerische-sorgfaltspflicht-per-gesetz-fairbylaw-ranaplaza
CAN YOU NAME THREE SUSTAINBLE HOTSPOTS IN HAMBURG?We're both lucky enough to have a garden in the backyard in the middle of town. For us, this is the most sustainable place in everyday life, because there you can brew your own coffee and feel close to nature. We are passionate gardeners, so you will not only find flowers in our gardens, but also home-grown vegetables and fruit. So place 1: Our gardens. 2nd place: Sustainability starts with you, that's why we both do yoga at Yoga Moves in Ottensen. 3rd place: We love beautiful things and you can find them in the concept store Werte Freunde. Here you can not only shop for sustainable fashion and beauty products, but also really enjoy yourself, because the concept also includes beauty treatments by trained staff. Only natural cosmetics are used, of course.
WHAT ARE YOUR THREE FAVOURITE PRODUCTS ON THE WEARNESS?Sarah is a big fan of Mykke Hofmann and has been flirting with the emerald green maxi dress since December. And the next pair of sunglasses is already on the wish list for a holiday in Tuscany!
Geraldine is more of a playful romantic in her style and is totally into Lilly Ingenhoven. She can't stop thinking about the blue jumpsuit. She will combine it with the Quesadilla Bag by nandi Berlin:
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